Quarterly data from the Association for the period up to the end of March 2018 revealed that £8.96bn had been lent cumulatively by its members.

The data also found that almost 150,000 investors were currently providing loans facilitated by P2PFA platforms.

The lending has supported more than 50,000 businesses and 221,000 customers.

Robert Pettigrew, director at the P2PFA, said levels of lending made possible through P2PFA platforms had continued to grow during the first quarter of 2018.

“…This has been particularly pronounced for business loans, where more than £660m in new lending has been facilitated in the first three months of 2018.

•   Former P2PFA chair joins Zopa
•   P2PFA strengthens P2P industry standards
•   JustUs launches IFIsa to support ethical housing scheme

“Indeed, since the third quarter of 2017, there has been a 35% increase – some £75m – in net lending to businesses by P2PFA platforms, which contrasts with data published by the Bank of England for banks, and highlights the important role played by the P2P lending sector in ensuring that businesses have access to the finance needed to fuel our economy.”

P2P platforms which are currently members of the P2PFA include: Crowdstacker, Folk2Folk, Funding Circle, Landbay, Lending Works, MarketInvoice, ThinCats and Zopa.

Robert added: “These impressive figures demonstrate, yet again, that the P2P lending sector continues to secure its position as an attractive proposition for investors and borrowers and consolidates its status as a sustainable component in the wider financial services landscape.”