The scorecard is the model the peer-to-peer platform uses to assess the credit risk of borrowers applying for loans.

It mixes proven traditional techniques with more cutting-edge data science approaches that new technologies have unlocked and replaces its previous model that it launched in April 2015.

The new model will not only use more advanced techniques, but is also built on a larger quantity of more up-to-date data, which means it improves Zopa’s ability to assess loans in today’s market.

Earlier this year, Zopa shared its view on the UK consumer credit market and what it meant for the loans lenders invested in at Zopa.

•   Zopa reduces higher-risk lending
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•   Zopa partners with credit scorer

Andrew Lawson, chief product officer at Zopa (pictured above), told lenders in a blog post: “We continue to monitor leading macroeconomic indicators carefully alongside how Zopa loans are performing compared to expectations.

“The trends in the wider UK market we mentioned last month, like levels of defaults and personal insolvencies, remain evident.

“Within Zopa, our outlook for loans remains the same as our last update, meaning our expectations have not changed since August.”

Andrew revealed that Zopa had received some questions from lenders about how it will manage risk on non-safeguarded loans once it retires its access and classic products.

“Our principles remain the same, regardless of safeguard.

“We still believe in prudent risk policies, diversification, and effective collections and recoveries policies.

“As our expectations of defaults increased, we have increased our prices, so that the returns we target for investors in each risk market remain the same.

“Given the current climate, we’ve increased the mix of lower-risk, lower-return A-B loans in our products, which is why our target rates reduced.”