Zopa, social media highlight latest CIiCU Podcast
Posted by Trey Reeme on December 18th, 2006
If you’re curious about Zopa’s entry into the US marketplace, drop what you’re doing right now and give Episode 9 of the Current Issues in Credit Unions podcast a listen.
On my last post I listed some of the biggest developments from 2006, and among my top five was Zopa’s willingness to partner with credit unions. I believe if Zopa becomes a credit union partner it’ll turn into the most significant CU story in years.
Rob, Gwen, Guy, Brian and guest Doug True collaborated for this episode, and the Zopa chat starts around minute 47. There’s also an extensive discussion of social media at minute 15, which includes some valuable tips on online video distribution, podcasting, and viral marketing.
Thanks for the mention guys! Doug was a great guest. I think I could have gone on for hours about some of the new marketing concepts he and his credit union have developed. They are way ahead of the curve.
I just listened to the ZOPA section. As one person said, If this catches on in the US like it has in the UK…”it would be a disruptive force!
Everyone should listen to this. Kudos to Trabian for being in the know…..
Loved the Zopa section! I’ve been waiting for this ever since I got tuned into them a few years ago. Partnering with Zopa through a CUSO is an interesting concept…can’t wait to hear more. They are sooooo cool in the UK…do you think coolness is transferrable? From the initial launches they’ve been doing in Cali, sounds like they may be the next big thing in the US. The train’s leaving the station…who’s coming with me?
Rebecca… developments continue to roll in on the Zopa front. The Zopa US launch will include credit unions in a big way. Stay tuned.
Your mention of ZOPA reminds me of a recent brand ownership presentation in which I put up ZOPA’s homepage via PPT and asked 120 IT banking professionals; “how many of you have heard of ZOPA?”
No one raised their hands.
Fantastic stuff on Zopa. I had no idea the USA ZOPA model was different from the UK one. If ZOPA is to truly take off (and it seems it must) it will be you guys in the USA who can make it happen.
The UK is at times a little hesitant when it comes to innovation in finance. For instance the first ATM Cards have only just been issued to three pioneering Credit Unions. And bear in mind that the CU movement is extremely small in the UK at the present time.
Hi everyone – how come no one has mentioned Prosper.com? We have been up and running for nearly a year already, have made $30 million in person-to-person loans, and are already enabling ad-hoc credit unions through our groups concept.
There’s also an inaccuracy in the discussion about Prosper in the podcast. Prosper loans are not strictly 1-to-1: we allow (in fact, we encourage) lenders to make many small loans across multiple borrowers to diversify and mitigate risk.
Hi Andrew, Thanks for the comment and pointing out the inaccuracy -
Like I have with Zopa, I’ve followed Prosper.com for a while (a search on this site will show more than a couple of posts giving you props). We admittedly get all fired up about Zopa because of their desire to work with credit unions as a partner.
While we’re interested in writing about p2p lending as a whole, we’re also mainly focused on credit unions. That’s why we give a lot of props to Zopa. They’ve been very willing to communicate to our industry and see a natural fit between the model and CUs.
What you, Zopa, and (later this year) CommunityLend (Canada) are doing is truly groundbreaking, and I only hope that you keep up the growth! Many thanks for commenting, and best of luck in 2007.
We are honored to have Chris Larsen, CEO and President of Prosper.com and Garbiel Dalporto, Chief Marketing Officer of Zecco.com speak at Net.Finance 2007. So if you wish to meet them and hear their views, strategies, and plans in advancing financial services, they’ll be at Net.Finance. This is the premier Multi-Channel Financial Services Marketing Conference to be held on April 16-19, 2007 at the Camelback Inn, Scottsdale AZ.
Topics include peer-to-peer lending, social media, web 2.0, blogging, and high-level presentations on customer-centric marketing strategies and online banking optimization.
Website is www.netfinanceus.com. Agenda is posted on the site and you can register online to get great discounts.