LONDON, 29th August 2008 – ‘BORRO’ www.BORRO.com launches today as the world’s first online service offering customers short term loans through the temporary release of equity from personal assets such as jewelry, watches, gold, gemstones, memorabilia and other valuables. BORRO provides a fast, convenient and responsible solution when traditional sources (credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts) are unavailable or are already fully utilized.
BORRO offers a lower cost solution compared to the charges incurred in using alternatives such as an unapproved overdraft, or a payday loan. In addition there are no credit checks or risks, and no bad debt risks. The loan can be paid off whenever the customer chooses during the six month term of the contract and the valuables they pledged are then returned.
BORRO will lend up to 40% of the value of items pledged and charges interest at 6% per month (4% or less for loans of £1,000 or more). There are no other fees or charges of any kind. Loans of between £100 and £100,000 are available. Over 85% of customers taking out this kind of loan repay their loan and redeem their valuables.
Paul Aitken, Founder and CEO of BORRO said, “We allow people to lend themselves money through the temporary release of equity from their personal assets – all from the comfort and convenience of their own home. Our approach allows us to keep our interest rates extremely competitive, ensuring that we offer radically better value than an unplanned overdraft or a payday loan.
The added benefit of our service is that our customers have no risk of accumulating bad debts. If they can’t or choose not to repay their loan, BORRO sells the items they have pledged to repay the loan and returns any excess proceeds to the customer. This means that the consequences of not paying off a loan are very clear – and that it is impossible for our customers to build up any bad debt through taking out a BORRO loan.
We are proud of this innovative and radically better-value solution that we have created for people with a short term cash needâ€
BORRO has already gained a number of customers through the pre-launch test of its service. These customers have shown that the concept is very appealing and that the service works well.
BORRO is backed financially by the European Founders Fund which is also invested in businesses such as Facebook and Linkedin and has previously founded and sold companies to eBay and Verisign.
The launch of BORRO in the UK is the first of an intended international roll-out of the business, to include other European countries and the U.S.A.
For further information, interviews, case studies etc, please contact: Martin Campbell at BeaconStrategic – telephone +44 (0)7802 634 695 or email [email protected]
