A UK bank that began in 2005 as the world's first peer-to-peer lender and became a bank in 2020. It offers savings, loans, credit cards and a current account.
Zopa is a British bank that offers savings accounts, personal loans, credit cards and a current account called Biscuit. It is famous for being one of the first peer-to-peer lenders: when it launched in 2005, it matched people who wanted to lend with people who wanted to borrow. It closed that part of the business in 2021 to focus on being a bank. Zopa says it serves over a million people in the UK, has lent £10 billion and looks after more than £4 billion in savings; these figures are its own and undated.
Wikipedia says the company was started in 2004 in Buckinghamshire by a team from the internet bank Egg, and lists Giles Andrews, Richard Duvall James, David Nicholson and Tim Parlett as founders. Zopa's own story page does not name them. Zopa got a full banking licence in 2020 and launched its retail bank in June 2020. In 2025 it moved its main office to Canary Wharf in London, though a Zopa job advert for a People Team role described a hybrid model based at a London Bridge office, so check where a role sits.
Zopa's own story says its purpose is to "make money work better for our customers" with simple, fair and honest products. A recent job advert also says it puts people first and encourages staff to take on unconventional challenges and think differently, which is the company's own wording.
In 2023 it bought DivideBuy, which led to its buy now, pay later offer. The Biscuit current account launched in March 2025. Its savings accounts are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK scheme that protects deposits. Behind the products sit data scientists, engineers, product teams, risk, customer support and people teams.
Zopa does recruit early-career people. A job advert for a Graduate/Apprentice in the People Team (now closed) was London-based, hybrid, and said the person would start in talent acquisition and could earn a CIPD HR qualification through an apprenticeship. It asked for an HR or STEM graduate, or a recent STEM A-level leaver. Another listing was for a Graduate Analyst in January 2024, and a Bright Network story from a graduate Data Scientist describes a case-study interview and friendly colleagues. The advert also claims a top-three place in the UK's Most Loved Workplaces and nearly 50 nationalities among its staff, both company claims. We did not find a fixed graduate scheme with dates or pay, so check Zopa's careers page.
Website: www.zopa.com
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