Can anybody see any impact to us as lenders from the "credit fee" but not a credit fee fallout ? could this be a dinosaur ending event / or biz as usual type thing.
Guys check your auto lend is still enabled.
It appears several weeks ago Harmoney made some changes to system and requires to re-enable the autolend if they had been using it.
The reminder was sent by Harmoney via email but some users might have not enabled it back on.
Auto lend is not the issue. I wonder if there will be a hiatus whilst they decide how to proceed. Don't want to be a scaremonger but anyone have an informed view of where to from here? Could the worst case be that they might have accrued a large liability if the fees were not supportable?
Personally I wouldn't get too excited about this just yet. There are plenty of credit card 'lenders' charging well in excess of $60 every 6 months for the privilege. Even on a 3 year loan that works out to be $360...what is Harmoney charging? Is it unreasonable?
Other Peer to Peer lenders are charging a similar rate +/-, so it may be seen as an industry standard/acceptable fee. Still a ways to go I think. Who would decide what a 'reasonable fee' should be?
If the current fee was seen to be unreasonable, only the difference would likely have to be paid back and I doubt it would take much for Harmoney to re-jig it's fee structure to achieve the same result as it is now and continue on (though these constant fee/rate changes do undermine confidence in the platform to some extent).
The Commerce Commission have a lot to answer for as they are the ones who have effectively created the problem by not getting involved in the beginning.
Since the borrower loan application process is largely automated HM will now need to lower their establishment fee quite a bit. Hopefully their business model is still viable and will be able to overcome this setback.
Up till 8th May '18 Harmoney charged a $500 "Platform Fee" this changed on the 8th to an "Establishment Fee" of $450, I would say that they knew this outcome well before it hit the press and the recent changes were done in response to it. I doubt there will be much change from our end as lenders, possibly some of the benefit from the recent interest rate increase will be eaten up with an increase in lending fees? I agree with you, nothing to get excited about, I think if anything - more PR for Harmoney is good for all of us. I am very confident in the platform and the people behind it and truely believe that peer-to-peer platforms will grow phenomenally over the next few years, once the government regulators get their head around a new concept of lending.
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