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Zopa is one of the better-performing loan providers that we’ve reviewed, offering a wide range of customer support touch points. For example, you can access help by phone, email, and online chat, and actively manage your loan using its mobile app. But Zopa doesn’t have any branches, so if you want to access support in-person, it may mean you need to consider another lender.
Zopa also doesn’t offer joint loans, or allow you to choose your payment date when applying. However, it does offer fast funding once the loan has been agreed, and in some cases, an instant decision can be made.
To help you compare deals, lenders are required to display the total cost of a loan as a percentage, known as the annual percentage rate (APR). This tells you how much a loan will cost you over one year, taking into account the interest rate and any standard fees. You must consider this, alongside other features of a loan, to decide if a loan is right for you.
» MORE: Compare personal loans and rates
NerdWallet Review Rating
See how we rate our lenders below.
Important information: Neither the review nor the star ratings considered the lender’s lending rates or representative APR, and therefore does not reflect how much they charge to borrow with them. The rates on this page have been provided as additional information. Always check and compare a lender’s rates against others on the market when considering a loan. The rate you are offered will be dependent on your personal circumstances, loan amount and term and may differ from the representative APR.
Partner SpotlightNerdWallet has partnered with Monevo
Other loans may be available in the UK loans market that are not included in this service.
Remember, if you’re considering a loan it’s sensible to only borrow what you need and pay it back as quickly as possible based on what you can comfortably afford to repay each month.
Zopa Personal Loan
1 to 7 years
£1,000 to £35,000
22.9%
No
Representative APR 22.9%. Based on a loan of £10,000 over 60 months at an interest of 22.9% p.a. (fixed). Monthly repayments of £269.40. Total amount payable £16,164.
- Must be aged 20 or over
- Must be a current UK resident with 1 year of address history in the UK
- Must be employed, self-employed or retired with a pension
- Must have an income of at least £12,000 per year (before tax)
NerdWallet has partnered with Monevo who will check your eligibility.
Zopa loans pros & cons
Pros
- You can access your loan quickly once your application is approved.
- Zopa offers multiple channels of customer support, including a mobile app.
Cons
- Early repayment charges may apply.
- Zopa doesn’t offer joint loans.
- Zopa is an online-only bank, meaning face-to-face customer support is not available.
The pros and cons featured here are chosen by us based on a combination of our expert opinions from our research of the personal loans market and an exclusive survey of UK consumers conducted on behalf of NerdWallet UK in February 2023 to identify the features of personal loans that people feel are most important. They are unlikely to be the only product features and restrictions that you should consider. Pros and Cons are subjective and you should align them to your own personal circumstances. Information was correct at the time of publication but may have changed since.
Zopa loans overview
Zopa made its name in 2005 as the first peer-to-peer lender to launch in the UK. However, it has since closed down its peer-to-peer operations, becoming a regulated online-only bank in 2020. Zopa now offers a range of different products to consumers, including personal loans.
You can repay its loans in fixed, monthly instalments over one to seven years. Zopa also says it allows you to make extra repayments without facing any penalty fees, but before making an overpayment you should always check the terms of your contract in case of any limits which can result in additional charges.
You can borrow between £1,000 and £35,000 with Zopa and manage your repayments through its mobile app.
You can check your eligibility for a loan from Zopa without affecting your credit score. This can help you see your chances of approval and what interest rates you may qualify for.
You could also consider using a loan eligibility service to conduct a soft search across multiple lenders. This can provide you with results of your likelihood of a successful application against several different loans without affecting your credit score, but do check the details of the service you use to make sure it only uses soft searches and how many lenders it checks.
| Amount borrowable | £1,000 to £35,000 |
| Term length | One to seven years |
| Time to get a decision | Instant |
| Time to receive funds once approved | Within two hours |
| Need to have an account with the provider | No |
| Customer support | Phone, live chat, email, mobile app, social media |
How do we rate Zopa’s personal loans?
We’ve assessed a selection of UK loan providers and rated each against a set of criteria that take into consideration what loan customers tell us are the most important product features.
Here’s what we review and how Zopa performs:
| Criteria | Star rating |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | 2.5 stars |
| Application process | 5 stars |
| Available customer support | 5 stars |
| Overall(The overall score is weighted in favour of the features borrowers told us they consider most important) | 4 stars |
NerdWallet’s star rating assessment criteria does not include the lender’s product lending rates or fees. Always check and compare a lender’s rates against others on the market when considering a loan.
Category definitions
Flexibility
A flexible loan gives customers a choice of funds, terms and payment options. That means offering a wide range of loan amounts and repayment term options, allowing the borrower to change their payment date and make overpayments, for example.
Application process
The best application processes are quick and easy, with clear eligibility criteria, soft checks and multiple ways to apply to suit different customers’ needs.
Available customer support
Good customer support can include clear information on the lender’s website and a customer service team that’s available most of the time and can be reached in multiple ways.
Where Zopa loans stand out
Fast funding
Zopa states that some borrowers could receive their funds in under 15 minutes and at most within two hours of getting approval for a loan. This is considerably quicker than other personal loan lenders we’ve reviewed, some of which can take several days to release funds once a loan has been approved.
Ability to manage through an app
Zopa has a mobile app which can be a convenient way for its customers to manage their loans, including making extra payments, requesting an early settlement quote or changing the loan repayment date. Note that this may change the next payment amount so check the terms before using this feature. This may appeal strongly to those happy to manage their finances through their mobile phone.
Favourable customer reviews
Zopa appears to score well in terms of its customer service levels, with a strong customer rating at Trustpilot. Zopa also gets a ‘bronze’ ribbon for customer experience for its loans from Fairer Finance.
Where Zopa loans fall short
You can’t choose your first payment date when applying
Unlike some lenders we’ve reviewed, you can’t choose the date of your first payment during the application process. It is automatically set to the date 30 days after approval. However, you can change your repayment date during the loan term if another date suits you better.
Features
Zopa offers unsecured personal loans of between £1,000 and £35,000, which you could choose to pay back over a term of between one and seven years.
You can use a Zopa loan to purchase a vehicle, spread wedding costs, or consolidate debts.
Joint loans
Zopa doesn’t currently offer joint loans, which means that if you want to apply for a loan with a partner, family member, or other individual, you’ll need to consider a different lender.
Flexibility
When compared with other loans we’ve reviewed, a Zopa loan scores lower for flexibility.
For example, with Zopa, it may not be possible to choose your payment date when applying, as the lender automatically sets it to 30 days after the approval date of your loan.
However, during the loan term, Zopa allows you to change your payment date to one that is more convenient for you. This may be useful if, for example, you would prefer to change it to the day after you get paid so that you can be confident that you have the necessary funds available.
You can manage your payment date on your Zopa online account. Bear in mind that changing your repayment date may alter the amount of your next payment.
Extra repayments
Zopa may apply some extra interest charges if you want to settle your loan before the end of the term.
If you took out a loan from Zopa after 7 September 2022, you may face an early repayment charge to clear your debt early. Borrowers who took out a loan on or before this date may not need to pay this fee.
Zopa can charge up to 28 days’ interest if your remaining loan term is 12 months or shorter, or up to 58 days’ interest for loans with longer terms.
While Zopa applies a charge for settling your loan early, like most lenders we’ve reviewed it allows you to make additional payments towards your loan at no extra cost. This is on top of your regular monthly payments. The minimum amount you can overpay is £10.
When you make an overpayment on a Zopa loan, your loan term will remain the same but your monthly payments will decrease accordingly.
» MORE: Guide to paying off a loan early
Additional borrowing
Depending on your circumstances, Zopa may allow you to borrow more and take out an additional loan alongside your existing one. However, this is subject to credit and affordability checks, and you currently can’t borrow more than £35,000 across all loans you have from Zopa.
You will need to wait a minimum of six months since your first application if you wish to borrow more.
Application process
We’ve rated Zopa’s loan five stars for its application process, getting one of the highest scores of all the loans we’ve reviewed.
One reason a Zopa loan scores highly is that you could get quick access to the funds – it may take less than 15 minutes for the funds to reach your account. But, in some cases, it could take up to two hours. With other lenders we’ve reviewed, it could take days to receive the funds.
Zopa has a calculator on its website that can help you see what your monthly payments would be if you borrowed a certain amount over a certain term. However, you need to consider that the calculator uses the representative APR to give you these results, so the interest you pay may differ if you apply for a loan.
Before formally applying for a loan from Zopa, you can see if you are eligible and what rate you could receive. Zopa will run a soft credit check, which won’t leave a mark on your credit history or be visible to other lenders, and look at the personal and financial information you provide to see if you qualify for a loan.
Once you have a quote and know the rate you might qualify for, you can decide whether to formally apply for the loan. The quoted rate you receive will be valid for 14 days, so, assuming nothing changes in your formal loan application and you apply within this period, you should likely receive that rate.
When you formally apply for a loan, Zopa will run a hard credit check. This will leave a mark on your credit history and could affect your credit score.
Sam Bromley, Lead Writer and Personal Loans Expert at NerdWallet
What Our Nerds Say
“Multiple hard credit checks over a short space of time will harm your credit score, because it suggests to lenders that you may be relying on credit too much. This is why it’s a good idea to check your eligibility before applying for a loan, and also to check your credit score, which illustrates how a lender may view your application.”
What information do I need?
To check your eligibility and apply for a loan from Zopa, you will need to provide details such as your:
- name
- address, and previous addresses if needed
- date of birth
- income
- employment status
Zopa says that it may ask for documents to support your application, such as your passport, driving licence, and a utility bill or bank statement dated within the last three months.
Zopa doesn’t ask that you send any information by post, instead allowing you to apply completely online.
How long does it take to apply?
Zopa may also be able to provide an instant decision on your loan application, so you can see straight away if you qualify for a loan or not.
However, it may need to confirm further details, or for you to provide additional documents as proof of identity or income. In these cases, Zopa says it could take up to five days to review your application.
In certain cases, Zopa may use open banking to verify your income. You will be told if Zopa needs to do this during the application process.
Availability of customer support
Out of all the loans that we’ve reviewed, Zopa receives one of the highest scores for customer support.
This is because Zopa can offer help over the phone, online chat, and email. Many lenders that we’ve reviewed don’t list an email address that you can contact, and not all of them have an online chat service.
Zopa is also active on social media, for example it replies to tweets on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Zopa’s mobile app can be a convenient way for customers to manage their loan and any other Zopa products they may have.
However, as an online-only bank, you can’t access customer support in-branch. So, if you prefer to speak to customer service representatives in person, it may be better to look for a loan elsewhere.
Customer ratings
On Trustpilot, Zopa has a 4.5 star rating. However, it’s important to remember that these reviews encompass Zopa’s product offerings as a whole, rather than only its personal loans.
Fairer Finance’s ratings, which focus solely on personal loans, award Zopa a customer experience score of 66%, the seventh highest out of the providers it ranks.
This information is correct as of 3 September 2024.
Am I eligible for a Zopa loan?
Unlike some personal loan lenders, you do not need to be an existing customer to apply for a Zopa loan. To qualify for a loan from Zopa, you will need to meet the following requirements as a minimum:
- be at least 20 years old
- live in the UK and have at least one year of address history
- earn at least £12,000 per year (before tax) and be able to afford the repayments
- have a good credit history that shows you have paid bills and any forms of debt on time
Zopa can offer loans to people who are employed, self-employed, or retired with a pension, as long as they can afford to repay the loan.
Frequently asked questions
Zopa is not a payday lender. Payday loans come with high interest rates and short repayment terms.
Zopa is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the organisation that is responsible for regulating firms in the UK finance market. Zopa is also authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
Review methodology
At NerdWallet UK, we base our reviews and our ‘Best’ pages on the results of surveys we undertook about what was important to people who use these products. This allows us to look at products impartially of any commercial arrangements we have and fairly rate the products on the same set of criteria.
Best means our ‘Best’ and is based only on what products we have aligned to our surveys, which form the basis of our reviews and ratings. This means that there will be other products on the market that we have not included in our ‘Best’ pages. Best does not mean it’s best for you, nor does it mean the ‘cheapest’.
Our reviews may display lenders’ rates. This additional information has not been included in our evaluations but is still very important when choosing a product. Rates offered can depend on circumstances, amount and term. Always check details before proceeding with any financial product.
Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible, but there will be products not included on the market. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability for your financial circumstances.
While we try to provide you with accurate information, the providers can change the terms of their products at any time, therefore it is advisable to check the terms before you proceed.
You can view our full review methodology here.