RateSetter
RateSetter was a United Kingdom peer-to-peer lending platform that connected retail and institutional investors with consumer and business borrowers.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
RateSetter was a London-based peer-to-peer lending brand established in 2009 by Rhydian Lewis and Peter Behrens through the holding company Retail Money Market Ltd. It became one of the early large participants in the United Kingdom's private-credit and marketplace-lending sector, offering a platform through which individuals and institutions could provide finance to consumers and businesses. The company competed with other British peer-to-peer lenders including Funding Circle, Zopa and LendInvest. Its principal innovation was a mutualised provision fund. Rather than leaving each lender to bear the entire loss risk of an individual borrower, the fund was designed to compensate investors for eligible defaults from a shared pool supported by borrower and lender economics. This structure helped RateSetter present peer-to-peer lending as a relatively accessible alternative to traditional savings and bank credit, although it did not eliminate investment risk. The platform focused heavily on retail investors while also accepting institutional capital, including lending associated with the British Business Bank. RateSetter expanded from consumer lending into business and property finance. In 2014, the British Business Bank announced that it would lend through the platform to support business borrowing. By the end of 2014, RateSetter was reported as the largest United Kingdom peer-to-peer lender by lending volume. The company subsequently attracted investment from United Kingdom fund managers and a global family office, moved to offices on Bishopsgate in the City of London, and raised additional equity at a valuation above £200 million. Paul Manduca became chairman in 2017, while founder Rhydian Lewis received an OBE in that year's Birthday Honours. The company also became a major participant in the United Kingdom's Innovative Finance ISA market. RateSetter had advocated regulation for peer-to-peer lending, and the first dedicated regulatory framework took effect in 2017. The framework enabled the Innovative Finance ISA, introduced in 2018, allowing eligible investors to hold certain peer-to-peer investments within a tax-advantaged ISA structure. RateSetter saw the framework as a basis for the sector's maturation and was preparing for a possible initial public offering and further capital raising before 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic materially changed the platform's operating conditions. In May 2020, RateSetter reduced the interest rate paid to lenders by half as a contingency against higher expected credit risk and temporarily delayed liquidity. Liquidity was reported to have returned by October 2020, while full interest payments resumed on 28 January 2021. During the same period, Metro Bank agreed to acquire the United Kingdom business for an enterprise value of £35 million, subject to performance conditions and regulatory and shareholder approvals. The transaction completed on 14 September 2020. After the acquisition, Metro Bank retained the RateSetter name for selected products but changed the funding model: new lending was to be financed from bank deposits rather than peer-to-peer investors. In February 2021, Metro Bank bought out the remaining peer-to-peer investors at par. The treatment of RateSetter's provision fund was contested by some of the approximately 45,000 investors then on the platform, particularly because the fund had been strengthened by interest redirected from investors during the preceding period. Metro Bank's focus on consumer lending also led to the sale of RateSetter's property-lending business to Shawbrook Bank in 2021. Metro Bank stopped using the RateSetter brand for savings accounts and new personal loans toward the end of 2023. RateSetter also operated in Australia from November 2014. The Australian operation was based in Sydney, locally managed and majority-owned, and was described as the country's first peer-to-peer lending platform open to retail customers. It reported more than AU$200 million in lending by December 2017 and approximately AU$800 million by the middle of 2020. The Australian business was excluded from Metro Bank's acquisition of the United Kingdom operation. It changed its name to Plenti in August 2020 and completed an initial public offering in September 2020. Across its markets, the RateSetter platform facilitated multiple billions in lending between more than 750,000 investors and consumer and business borrowers, but the original RateSetter brand is no longer active.
History
RateSetter originated in the United Kingdom during the early development of online peer-to-peer lending. Retail Money Market Ltd was incorporated in October 2009, with Rhydian Lewis, an investment banker formerly associated with Lazard, and Peter Behrens, a lawyer who had moved into banking after working at Royal Bank of Scotland, as co-founders. Initial funding came from angel investors. The business built a marketplace connecting borrowers with investors and differentiated itself through a provision fund intended to mutualise eligible default risk. The platform initially focused on retail participation but expanded its lending relationships to include institutional capital. Its activities included consumer loans, business finance and property lending. A significant development came in 2014, when the British Business Bank announced that it would lend through RateSetter to support business borrowing. By the end of that year, RateSetter had become the largest United Kingdom peer-to-peer lender by volume, competing with Funding Circle, Zopa and LendInvest. RateSetter supported calls for a formal regulatory framework for peer-to-peer lending. The first United Kingdom rules for the sector took effect in 2017, and the Innovative Finance ISA became available in 2018. RateSetter became one of the leading providers of the product, allowing eligible peer-to-peer investments to be held within an ISA structure. The company continued to emphasize retail investors, whose returns were presented as a potential premium to ordinary bank savings rates, while borrowers were offered comparatively competitive credit. In 2015, the company attracted new investment from United Kingdom fund managers and a global family office and moved to offices on Bishopsgate in the City of London. In 2017, Paul Manduca became chairman. RateSetter also raised additional equity at a valuation exceeding £200 million. Founder Rhydian Lewis received an OBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours. The company considered a potential United Kingdom flotation and planned a further pre-IPO fundraise for the first half of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic created a sharp change in the platform's risk environment. In May 2020, RateSetter halved the interest rate paid to lenders as a precaution against expected deterioration in United Kingdom lending performance. Liquidity was temporarily delayed, although it had returned by October. Full interest payments resumed on 28 January 2021. Metro Bank approached RateSetter in 2020 and agreed in August to acquire the United Kingdom business for a total enterprise value of £35 million, subject to performance conditions and regulatory and shareholder approval. Completion took place on 14 September 2020. The Australian operation was not included. Metro Bank said it would retain the RateSetter brand and platform for selected activities, but new lending would be funded by the bank's deposits rather than by peer-to-peer investors. In February 2021, Metro Bank bought out the peer-to-peer investors at par. Some of the approximately 45,000 investors objected to the transaction's treatment of the provision fund, which had been strengthened by interest redirected from investors during the preceding period. Metro Bank later sold the property-lending operation to Shawbrook Bank in 2021. The RateSetter name was eventually withdrawn from Metro Bank savings accounts and new personal loans toward the end of 2023. RateSetter's Australian business began operating in Sydney in November 2014. It was locally managed and majority-owned and was described as Australia's first peer-to-peer platform open to retail customers. Lending exceeded AU$200 million by December 2017 and reached approximately AU$800 million by the middle of 2020. The Australian company was preparing for a public flotation while remaining outside the Metro Bank transaction. It was renamed Plenti in August 2020 and completed an ASX initial public offering in September of that year. RateSetter's broader platform activity amounted to multiple billions in lending between more than 750,000 investors and consumer and business borrowers.
- 2023
RateSetter brand retired from Metro Bank products
[1]Metro Bank ceased using the RateSetter name for savings accounts and new personal loans toward the end of the year.
- 2021
Peer-to-peer investors bought out
[1]Metro Bank bought out RateSetter's remaining peer-to-peer investors at par in February.
- 2020
United Kingdom business acquired by Metro Bank
[1]Metro Bank completed its acquisition of RateSetter's United Kingdom operation on 14 September.
- 2020
RateSetter Australia became Plenti
[1]The Australian business adopted the Plenti name ahead of its ASX listing.
- 2018
Innovative Finance ISA launched
[1]The Innovative Finance ISA became available, with RateSetter becoming a major provider.
- 2017
United Kingdom peer-to-peer lending regulation introduced
[1]The first United Kingdom regulatory framework specifically covering peer-to-peer lending took effect.
- 2014
Australian operation launched
[1]RateSetter began operating in Australia in November, serving retail customers from a Sydney base.
- 2014
British Business Bank partnership announced
[1]The British Business Bank announced lending through RateSetter to support business borrowing.
- 2009
Retail Money Market Ltd incorporated
[1]The holding company behind RateSetter was incorporated in October, with Rhydian Lewis and Peter Behrens as co-founders.
Products and positioning
A retail-oriented marketplace lender that used a mutualised provision fund to make peer-to-peer investing and borrowing more accessible, while offering investors returns intended to exceed ordinary bank savings rates.
Marketplace lending · 2009
RateSetter peer-to-peer lending platform
The core platform matched retail and institutional investors with consumer and business borrowers. It operated as an online private-credit marketplace and generated lending across consumer, business and property segments. The model was designed to give borrowers access to competitively priced finance while offering investors an alternative to conventional savings products.
Credit-risk protection
Provision Fund
RateSetter's provision fund pooled contributions and was intended to compensate investors for eligible borrower defaults. Its mutualised structure was a central part of the brand's proposition, although it did not remove all investment risk. The fund became a matter of investor disagreement during the 2020–2021 transition to Metro Bank ownership.
Tax-advantaged investment account · 2018
RateSetter Innovative Finance ISA
The Innovative Finance ISA enabled eligible investors to hold qualifying peer-to-peer investments within a United Kingdom ISA framework. RateSetter became one of the largest providers after the product's introduction in 2018, reinforcing its focus on retail investors.
Peer-to-peer lending platform · 2014
RateSetter Australia
The Australian operation offered peer-to-peer lending to retail customers from Sydney and was locally managed and majority-owned. It grew to approximately AU$800 million in cumulative lending by mid-2020 before changing its name to Plenti and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Controversies
2021
Investor objections over the provision fund and Metro Bank transaction
Some of the approximately 45,000 peer-to-peer investors objected to the treatment of RateSetter's provision fund when Metro Bank bought them out at par. The fund had been strengthened by interest redirected from investors during the preceding period, making its treatment a contentious part of the ownership transition.
Brand decisions
2021
Metro Bank converted RateSetter's funding modelStrategyBackground
Metro Bank's ownership changed the platform from a primarily peer-to-peer marketplace into a bank-owned lending and savings brand.
Action taken
New lending under the RateSetter name was funded by Metro Bank deposits rather than peer-to-peer investors, and Metro Bank bought out the remaining investors at par.
Aftermath
The property-lending business was sold to Shawbrook Bank in 2021, and the RateSetter brand was later withdrawn from selected Metro Bank products.
Peer-to-peer investor buyout valuation. £384 million (February 2021)
2020
RateSetter halved lender interest ratesPrice changeBackground
The COVID-19 pandemic created widespread expectations of increased credit risk in United Kingdom lending.
Action taken
RateSetter reduced the interest rate paid to lenders by half as a contingency measure and temporarily delayed liquidity.
Aftermath
Liquidity had returned by October 2020, and full interest payments resumed on 28 January 2021.
2020
Metro Bank acquired RateSetter UKM&ABackground
RateSetter was approached by Metro Bank during the pandemic period while the company was considering a pre-IPO equity raise.
Action taken
Metro Bank agreed to acquire the United Kingdom business for a £35 million enterprise value, subject to performance conditions and approvals; completion occurred on 14 September 2020.
Aftermath
The Australian operation remained outside the transaction, and Metro Bank shifted new lending from peer-to-peer funding to bank deposits.
Enterprise value. £35 million (2020 acquisition announcement and completion)
2020
RateSetter Australia rebranded before public listingStrategyBackground
The Australian business was not included in Metro Bank's acquisition of the United Kingdom operation and was preparing for a stock exchange flotation.
Action taken
The Australian company changed its name to Plenti in August 2020 and completed an initial public offering on the ASX in September.
Aftermath
The Australian business continued under the Plenti brand rather than RateSetter.
Recent events
RateSetter wins Best Loan Provider award[2]
Reported:
RateSetter confirmed that it won the Consumer Credit Awards 2020 award for “Best Loan Provider” for loans of £2,500 or more.
RateSetter rebrands its Australian lending platform as Plenti[3]
Reported:
RateSetter rebranded its Australian peer-to-peer lending platform to Plenti. The article says the platform, products and people remained unchanged.
Metro Bank agrees to acquire RateSetter[4]
Reported:
Metro Bank agreed to acquire RateSetter for initial consideration of £2.5 million, with additional consideration potentially payable subject to specified criteria and timing. The transaction requires approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Sources4 sources
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