ThinCats accepts skinny rates in marketplace sector
ThinCats Australia, a marketplace lender, told prospective investors in a presentation his week that it was advancing business loans at "rates between 11 per cent to 16 per cent per annum."These lending rates are much less than those of some rivals in the presentation, including OnDeck (USA), Prospa, Get Capital and Moula.The purpose of the presentation was only to drum up "lenders" under its "peer to peer" model in a pitch asserting it was "the only market place lending platform in this [business] market" - a line some other marketplace lenders might dispute.ThinCats said it was "targeting 'growth finance' medium term secured loans with larger values in a range from A$200,000 to $2 million."The financier omitted any other insight on its Australian business, instead choosing to frame the pitch around data on its UK parent and comparing itself with early movers in a vibrant niche.ThinCats said it estimated an "unserviced market five times larger than commercial pay day lending, [with] default rates significantly lower."ThinCats defined its target market as "eligible SME borrowers able to obtain finance at a ' market determined' rate for loans between $50,000 and $2 million," with a "sweet spot of $250,000."