New data released today from the Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA), the UK trade group representing Britain’s peer-to-peer lender platforms, reveals that lending amongst its members climbed steeply between Q2 and Q3, rising from £507.3 million to £607.3 million – an increase of 19.7%.

Peer-to-peer lenders have lent £1.58 billion so far in 2015, and the indications are that this segment of the alternative finance market is on course to surpass £2 billion in total new loans by the end of the year. The data trends suggest that the total may even eclipse £2.18 billion - the total cumulative lending by P2PFA members in all the years before 2015.

The growth has been largely driven by a sharp increase in the number of borrowers. There were 225,064 current borrowers using peer-to-peer lender platforms in Q3, 19% more than in Q2 and a sizeable 61% more than at the close of 2014.

In addition to releasing new lending data, the P2PFA has also updated its transparency standards, which apply to all its members. The new “Operating Principals” are designed to “strengthen standards of transparency, risk management and governance in the P2P lending sector.” Members will now be required to publish debt data according to a standardised approach and ensure that loan books are transparent. Small retail investors are also to be treated equally to institutional investors.

​P2PFA Chair, Christine Farnish, said: “These new measures will help build further consumer confidence, demonstrate our commitment to ethical practice and set a beacon of good practice across the market.”