Closed — investors were repaid at par

RateSetter Referral Code

Q: Is there a RateSetter referral code?

No, and there has not been one for years. The peer-to-peer platform closed to new lending when Metro Bank completed its acquisition on 15 September 2020, and the RateSetter brand was retired for savings accounts and new personal loans towards the end of 2023. Any site still publishing a RateSetter referral code is publishing something that cannot work. That is the honest answer, and it is why this page still exists rather than being deleted — someone searching for this needs to be told.

Q: What happened to RateSetter?

It was one of the three largest peer-to-peer lending platforms in the UK. Metro Bank agreed to acquire it in August 2020 — for an initial consideration of £2.5 million with further sums contingent on performance, though published totals for the deal vary — and completed on 15 September 2020. The effect was to close the platform to new peer-to-peer lending: new lending under the RateSetter name was funded by Metro Bank's own deposits rather than by individual investors, which is a different business entirely and the end of the "peer" in peer-to-peer.

Q: What happened to the money people had lent?

This is the part that deserves to be said plainly, because it is good news. In February 2021 Metro Bank bought out the peer-to-peer investors at par — a portfolio valued at around £384 million. "At par" means investors received the full face value of their holdings rather than whatever a distressed sale might have produced. That is a genuinely orderly ending, and it is not how every platform in this sector has finished. An honest account of a closure should record when a company treated its customers well, not only when it did not.

Q: Why do other sites still advertise a RateSetter referral bonus?

Because content about defunct programmes is rarely removed. Once a page is published quoting a bonus, it tends to stay online indefinitely unless someone actively takes it down, regardless of whether the underlying company still exists. That is common across this sector — always check a company's own current site before assuming an advertised referral bonus is real, especially for older or acquired brands.

Q: Is peer-to-peer lending still a thing?

Much less than it was, at least as a retail product in the English-speaking world. Retail peer-to-peer lending largely ended around 2020: RateSetter was absorbed by a bank, and in the United States LendingClub — the company that invented the category — retired its retail Notes platform on 31 December 2020 and became a bank itself. Two of the biggest names in the sector stopped doing the thing the sector was named after within months of each other. Platforms of this kind still operate, particularly in continental Europe, and some are well run.

Q: What should I know before using a similar platform?

One thing above all, and RateSetter's ending makes it concrete: this is not a savings account. Lending money to strangers through a platform is an investment, your capital is at risk, and no deposit guarantee scheme stands behind it. RateSetter's investors were made whole because a bank chose to buy them out. That was an outcome, not an entitlement — and reading it as a precedent would be exactly the wrong lesson.

RateSetter's peer-to-peer platform closed in 2020 and the brand was retired in 2023 — there is no £100 referral to collect

RateSetter was a UK peer-to-peer lending platform, one of the three largest in the country. It was acquired by Metro Bank in 2020, its peer-to-peer lending was wound down, and the brand was retired in 2023.

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RateSetter's peer-to-peer platform is closed and there is no referral code to find. Metro Bank agreed to acquire it in August 2020 and completed on 15 September 2020, ending new peer-to-peer lending — new lending under the name was funded by the bank's own deposits instead. In February 2021 Metro Bank bought out the P2P investors at par, a portfolio valued at around £384 million, which is a genuinely orderly ending and worth recording. The brand was retired for savings and new personal loans towards the end of 2023. The general lesson: retail P2P largely ended around 2020, and lending through a platform is an investment with capital at risk, not a savings account — these investors were made whole because a bank chose to buy them out, which was an outcome rather than an entitlement.

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How to Use a RateSetter Referral Code

There is no code to look for

The peer-to-peer platform closed to new lending in 2020 and the brand left the market in 2023. Any RateSetter referral code still published cannot work.

If you held money there, look up February 2021

Metro Bank bought out the peer-to-peer investors at par, a portfolio valued at around £384 million. Remaining questions belong with Metro Bank.

Take the general lesson before using a similar platform

Lending money to strangers through a platform is an investment, not a savings account. Capital is at risk and no deposit guarantee stands behind it.

Do not read the ending as a guarantee

These investors were made whole because a bank chose to buy them out. That was an outcome, not an entitlement.

Reward Details

Your Reward: None. The platform is closed; there is no referral programme to take part in.
Referrer Reward: None. There is nothing to collect.
Minimum Purchase: Not applicable — the platform no longer accepts peer-to-peer investment.
Validity: Metro Bank completed its acquisition on 15 September 2020; P2P investors were bought out at par in February 2021; the brand was retired towards the end of 2023.
Available In: UK, Australia
Referral Limit: Not applicable.
Payout Time: Not applicable.
Eligibility: There is no live programme. Any site still publishing a RateSetter referral code is publishing something that cannot work.

Why Choose RateSetter?

The platform is closed

Metro Bank completed its acquisition on 15 September 2020, ending new peer-to-peer lending. New lending under the name was funded by the bank's own deposits instead.

Investors were repaid at par

In February 2021 Metro Bank bought out the P2P investors at full face value, a portfolio worth around £384 million. An orderly ending, and worth saying so.

The brand left the market in 2023

Metro Bank stopped using the RateSetter name for savings accounts and new personal loans towards the end of 2023 — the name is gone, not paused.

Retail P2P largely ended around 2020

RateSetter was absorbed by a bank; in the US, LendingClub retired its retail Notes platform on 31 December 2020 and became a bank itself.

About RateSetter

There is no referral programme here, and there has not been one for years.

RateSetter's peer-to-peer lending platform is closed, and there is no referral bonus to collect.

RateSetter was one of the three largest peer-to-peer lending platforms in the United Kingdom. Metro Bank agreed to acquire it in August 2020 — for an initial consideration of £2.5 million with further sums contingent on performance, though published totals for the deal vary — and the acquisition completed on 15 September 2020.

The effect was to close the platform to new peer-to-peer lending. New lending under the RateSetter name was funded by Metro Bank's own deposits instead of by individual investors — a different business entirely, and the end of the "peer" in peer-to-peer.

In February 2021 Metro Bank bought out the peer-to-peer investors at par — a portfolio valued at around £384 million. "At par" means investors received the full face value of their holdings rather than whatever a distressed sale might have produced. That is a genuinely orderly ending, and it is not how every platform in this sector has finished; an honest account of a closure should record when a company treated its customers well, not only when it did not.

Towards the end of 2023, Metro Bank stopped using the RateSetter brand for savings accounts and new personal loans, and the name left the market altogether.

If you are looking for a RateSetter referral code, there is nothing to find, and any site still publishing one is publishing something that cannot work. If you held money on the platform, the February 2021 buyout is the event to look up, and any remaining questions belong with Metro Bank rather than with a referral listing.

The broader lesson is the reason this store is worth reading even though it is dead. Retail peer-to-peer lending as a consumer product largely ended in the English-speaking world around 2020. RateSetter was absorbed by a bank; in the United States, LendingClub — the company that invented the category — retired its retail Notes platform on 31 December 2020 and became a bank itself. Two of the biggest names in the sector stopped doing the thing the sector was named after, within months of each other.

Platforms of this kind still operate, particularly in continental Europe, and some are well run. But the single most important thing to establish before putting money into any of them is the thing RateSetter's ending makes concrete: this is not a savings account. Lending money to strangers through a platform is an investment, your capital is at risk, and no deposit guarantee scheme stands behind it. RateSetter's investors were made whole by a bank that chose to buy them out — that was an outcome, not an entitlement.