Plata Finance

Plata Finance Limited is a UK consumer-credit lender directly authorised by the FCA under FRN 718925. The FCA Register records requirements/restrictions on the firm's permissions and carries a 'cloned firm' warning regarding fraudsters using Plata's identity. Registered office: Frobisher House, Southbrook Rd, Southampton, SO15 1GX.

The domain it used, platafinance.com, now belongs to an unrelated Colombian lender, and its UK online lending service appears to have closed. FCA authorisation remains on the register with the restrictions noted above. Plata was a regulated consumer-credit lender — not an investment platform — so FCA oversight applies to its lending activities rather than to any retail investor offering.

Prior to the site going offline, Plata operated as a direct online lender of unsecured personal loans to UK consumers. Applications were processed online using digital identity verification and Open Banking data for affordability checks. Applicants were shown the interest rate, Representative APR and total amount payable before submission.

Plata stated it did not charge upfront sign-up or broker fees, and that any early-repayment rebate would be calculated under permitted early-interest rules of the Consumer Credit Regulations. Where the Financial Ombudsman Service has found affordability-check failings, these process safeguards did not always prevent consumer harm in specific cases.

Plata offered unsecured personal loans to UK consumers, typically £2,000–£25,000 with terms of 12–60 months, at variable interest rates depending on credit profile. It was a lender (originating and servicing consumer loans) rather than a retail investment platform — there were no IFISAs, SIPPs or other retail investment products offered.

Plata-originated loan portfolios were used in securitisation transactions (e.g. the Asimi Funding 2024-1 PLC issuance), indicating loans were packaged for institutional funding markets. Any third-party exposure to Plata loans would therefore come via institutional ABS channels rather than a retail marketplace.

Plata's products were aimed at UK consumers seeking unsecured personal loans of the stated size and duration who could supply digital verification and bank data for affordability checks. As an FCA-authorised consumer credit firm it was required to follow responsible lending rules; however, the Financial Ombudsman Service has upheld complaints against Plata in multiple cases where it found affordability checks were inadequate and loans were unaffordable.

Borrowers considering Plata (when applications were open) needed to check credit-agency records and be cautious about affordability before borrowing. With the site offline, existing borrowers should rely on the FCA Register contact details and any direct communications from the firm for account-specific matters.