RAINFIN

[BlackWasp]

Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone has used the RAINFIN site to successfully borrow or lend money?

It seems like a great concept and also very popular overseas.

I don't see a lot of advertising though.

Thank you.

 

[BlackWasp]

No-one used the site before?

 

[lucifir]

I tried to use it to lend a little money when it first came out(just to see how it worked and if it would be better than putting the money in a savings account). After a few tries, even though the borrowers minimum amounts were met, for some reason the loans did not go through. I then decided to cut my losses and take out my money.
I Have not gone back since, so not sure if anything has changed.
Let me know if you have more success, maybe I will give it another try.

Also, I noticed that the credit scores were never accurate, so it was very difficult to determine rates based on the risk profile

 

[MKFrost]

No, never heard of them before. Had a quick look and it looks interesting but not something I will do i.e. lend money out in that way. You only have their word that full due diligence has been done.

According to what they say all contracts are enforceable etc... so if somebody does not pay then you can take action and that is where I have a problem. If I give my money to them to lend out then I hold them responsible for collecting it again. In essence, as I understand it, they lend it out and if it does not come back its your problem.

I have better things to do with my money, I worked hard for it and treat it with respect. Investing with Rainfin, in my opinion, is not worth the risk.

 

[Tman*]

Reviving an old tread.

Rainfin is currently on an aggressive advertising campaign, Ive heard their ads on 702, and also read articles on Fin24 & Moneyweb.

Now, as the old saying goes, if its too good to be true it probably is.

I certainly have my doubts, this looks like a reworked & tweaked model of the popular Cambist platform, and we all know how that ended....

One big difference tho is, I see they are a registered FSP (not sure if it means anything as the FSB is a joke), and that they are backed by Barclays.

Opinions, thoughts?

 

[^^vampire^^]

Did about 1500-2000 in small loans about 10-12 all in all, every single person defaulted. Rainfin made no attempt to recoup money. Would not recommend.

 

[Tman*]

Did about 1500-2000 in small loans about 10-12 all in all, every single person defaulted. Rainfin made no attempt to recoup money. Would not recommend.

So, what you actually recommending is, take out a loan, because you won't be required to pay it back?

 

[RainFin]

Hi Tman, nice of you to mention us.

RainFin is in fact nothing like the Cambist you are referring to. You correctly stated that RainFin is a registered financial services and credit provider. We are also compliant with the Consumer Protection Act, the National Credit Act and a few others, detail of which is available on our site. We are actually quite proud of our compliancy status with all these regulators and it should give users on our platform peace of mind.

Regarding Barclays, yes they bought a 49% stake in RainFin in March last year. They brought extensive credit market experience and structuring capabilities to the table and the relationship has proved to be very beneficial for both parties.

We would like to invite you to visit our YouTube channel for a range of videos explaining how things work and that could quite possibly answer all your concerns. https://www.youtube.com/user/rainfinofficial

Looking forward to welcoming you to our platform.

The RainFin Team

 

[RainFin]

Hi Vampire

We would love to do some investigation on your comments. According to our records, there are no lenders who lost 100% of all their funds. RainFin has an in depth moderation process which carefully look at a borrower's payment history and affordability before approving his/her loan to be on our marketplace. We also have an extensive payment collection system in place in case of defaults. We therefore invite you to supply us with your username on the platform so that we look into your concerns.

Kind regards
The RainFin Team

 

[^^vampire^^]

Hi Vampire

We would love to do some investigation on your comments. According to our records, there are no lenders who lost 100% of all their funds. RainFin has an in depth moderation process which carefully look at a borrower's payment history and affordability before approving his/her loan to be on our marketplace. We also have an extensive payment collection system in place in case of defaults. We therefore invite you to supply us with your username on the platform so that we look into your concerns.

Kind regards
The RainFin Team

My mistake on my earlier post, I lent out R4200.

Deposits +6000
Withdrawals -2743.48
Fees -10.61
Capital Lent -4200
Reserved offers -0

Repaid principal +929.84
Repaid interest and late fee /s +255.63

22% repayment on principal lent. I realise it's unsecured lending and I have no guarantee but with all the checks etc Rainfin says it has in place you would expect better quality "clients".

Yeah not 100% default but still pretty high. Not a single loan as far as I can tell was completely paid back but I can't see the details as when I try look through Transaction History I get "Error! The requested URL did not return JSON".

 

[^^vampire^^]

So, what you actually recommending is, take out a loan, because you won't be required to pay it back?

100%. Thinking of taking a loan to recover my principal lost.

 

[Tman*]

100%. Thinking of taking a loan to recover my principal lost.

Go for it!

What I dont understand is, why would one take substantial risk (as in your case ^^vampire^^) to make a relatively low return?

Ill much rather invest in the stock market, and at least I can still try to wait out a economic slump when the share price is low. With Rainfin it doesnt seem there is any recourse should people default on their loans?

Rainfin, you are to comment?

 

[RainFin]

My mistake on my earlier post, I lent out R4200.

Deposits +6000
Withdrawals -2743.48
Fees -10.61
Capital Lent -4200
Reserved offers -0

Repaid principal +929.84
Repaid interest and late fee /s +255.63

22% repayment on principal lent. I realise it's unsecured lending and I have no guarantee but with all the checks etc Rainfin says it has in place you would expect better quality "clients".

Yeah not 100% default but still pretty high. Not a single loan as far as I can tell was completely paid back but I can't see the details as when I try look through Transaction History I get "Error! The requested URL did not return JSON".

Thanks for the info Vampire - will investigate and advise shortly.

 

[RainFin]

My mistake on my earlier post, I lent out R4200.

Deposits +6000
Withdrawals -2743.48
Fees -10.61
Capital Lent -4200
Reserved offers -0

Repaid principal +929.84
Repaid interest and late fee /s +255.63

22% repayment on principal lent. I realise it's unsecured lending and I have no guarantee but with all the checks etc Rainfin says it has in place you would expect better quality "clients".

Yeah not 100% default but still pretty high. Not a single loan as far as I can tell was completely paid back but I can't see the details as when I try look through Transaction History I get "Error! The requested URL did not return JSON".

Hi Vampire. Thanks for the feedback, We investigated and see that you where one of our first lenders in 2014 and we thank you for being such a early adopter. Since launch we have been constantly improving our credit scoring, moderation and collections capabilities. The individual lenders you chose to lend to are still in our legal collection process and we are confident we will be in a position to collect these for you.

In March this year we implemented version 4 of our score card and we where able to lean on our then new Shareholder for some input into the card and we would like to offer you the opportunity to try it out. We are so confident you will experience a vast improvement in our scoring and moderation mechanics that we are willing to credit your account with an amount equal to what you still have outstanding. We invite you to lend it to new borrowers on the platform and give us feedback on your experience. Please advise if you want to take up the challenge by sending your answer to [email protected] with your name and user ID and your account will be credited with the funds to restart your lending portfolio straight away.

 

[RainFin]

Go for it!

What I dont understand is, why would one take substantial risk (as in your case ^^vampire^^) to make a relatively low return?

Ill much rather invest in the stock market, and at least I can still try to wait out a economic slump when the share price is low. With Rainfin it doesnt seem there is any recourse should people default on their loans?

Rainfin, you are to comment?

Hi Tman. Our view is that RainFin is not a place for lenders who are seeking net returns after defaults in excess of 15%. We are very focused on trying to reduce the cost of interest for borrowers and at the same time helping our lenders earn a return. We take the responsibility of strictly moderating all borrowers before we approve them to be loaded on our marketplace and the collection of payments on behalf of our lenders very seriously.

We would prefer our platform to be a marketplace where super prime borrowers come to get rates that beat what they could get from a bank. We do not have people or SME’s on our platform who would not eventually get term loans from a traditional main stream bank, we just want to help them get their loans faster, with less hassle and hopefully cheaper, as lenders compete to fund them.

Having said that, we offer lenders substantial information to enable them to choose the level of risk that they want to be exposed to. On our platform, lenders have the ability to lend to borrowers who we rate as from A-grade who, based on credit scores, represent a very low risk to c-grade where the default risk is higher. Just like on the stock market, investors can select the risk grade and associated return that they feel comfortable with. There will always be a degree of risk when lending money, but we believe that through diversification and lending small amounts to a number of borrowers, lenders can achieve sufficient returns across a portfolio of loans.

 

[^^vampire^^]

Go for it!

What I dont understand is, why would one take substantial risk (as in your case ^^vampire^^) to make a relatively low return?

Ill much rather invest in the stock market, and at least I can still try to wait out a economic slump when the share price is low. With Rainfin it doesnt seem there is any recourse should people default on their loans?

Rainfin, you are to comment?

I was, and still am comfortable with the amount that I invest every month in what is deemed safer investment. I have RAs, Unit Trusts, EFTs and individual shares in certain companies in the stock market and decided to try out Rainfin to see if it would be a viable option to a different type of investing.

I set out a specific amount and was willing to lose it all if it came to that as Rainfin is an unsecured lending channel. The thing that gets me is the advertising (especially recently on radio etc) and marketed assurances that they vet their lenders for some peace of mind and then everyone I have lent to defaults. In some ways I can only blame myself, I knew what I was getting myself in to but I have had zero communication about what is happening with these accounts now. To me it seems as if the whole thing got to a point where no one pays and that's the end of that. Don't think I've got any type of meaningful info out of Rainfin in over a year. I kind of just forgot about the account altogether.

Guess I can always take them up on their offer and see what happens. Maybe things have changed.

 

[Tman*]

I was, and still am comfortable with the amount that I invest every month in what is deemed safer investment. I have RAs, Unit Trusts, EFTs and individual shares in certain companies in the stock market and decided to try out Rainfin to see if it would be a viable option to a different type of investing.

I set out a specific amount and was willing to lose it all if it came to that as Rainfin is an unsecured lending channel. The thing that gets me is the advertising (especially recently on radio etc) and marketed assurances that they vet their lenders for some peace of mind and then everyone I have lent to defaults. In some ways I can only blame myself, I knew what I was getting myself in to but I have had zero communication about what is happening with these accounts now. To me it seems as if the whole thing got to a point where no one pays and that's the end of that. Don't think I've got any type of meaningful info out of Rainfin in over a year. I kind of just forgot about the account altogether.

Guess I can always take them up on their offer and see what happens. Maybe things have changed.

I'm sorry about your loss. I guess that's how we learn.

Let your story act as a caution to others then. And with RainFin being on the forum now I really hope they can post some feedback, and hopefully recoup some funds from the people that defaulted.

 

[RainFin]

I was, and still am comfortable with the amount that I invest every month in what is deemed safer investment. I have RAs, Unit Trusts, EFTs and individual shares in certain companies in the stock market and decided to try out Rainfin to see if it would be a viable option to a different type of investing.

I set out a specific amount and was willing to lose it all if it came to that as Rainfin is an unsecured lending channel. The thing that gets me is the advertising (especially recently on radio etc) and marketed assurances that they vet their lenders for some peace of mind and then everyone I have lent to defaults. In some ways I can only blame myself, I knew what I was getting myself in to but I have had zero communication about what is happening with these accounts now. To me it seems as if the whole thing got to a point where no one pays and that's the end of that. Don't think I've got any type of meaningful info out of Rainfin in over a year. I kind of just forgot about the account altogether.

Guess I can always take them up on their offer and see what happens. Maybe things have changed.

Hi Vampire. It would be great if you take up our offer and give some feedback on your experience. We trust that with all the new processes we have implemented, it will be a pleasant one! In the mean time, we are still working on getting your funds back from the borrowers!

 

[RainFin]

I'm sorry about your loss. I guess that's how we learn.

Let your story act as a caution to others then. And with RainFin being on the forum now I really hope they can post some feedback, and hopefully recoup some funds from the people that defaulted.

Hi Tman. As said before, we have improved our vetting process in the past year to ensure that we only have prime borrowers on our marketplace. We currently only approve 10% of the applications we receive. Regarding the recouping of funds - we follow the exact same procedures to retrieve the funds from the borrowers as a bank would do, so no stone is left unturned to get the lenders' funds back.