RateSetter was recognised for innovating in peer-to-peer lending, such as a provision fund which mutualised risk, in order to make the product more accessible to the ordinary investor.

The company narrowed the spread between what investors earned and what borrowers paid: in this way it provided an alternative to the traditional banking model of deposits and loans and was an early pioneer of the private credit industry.

RateSetter was active in the lobbying of government to introduce a regulatory framework to peer-to-peer lending, and this came to fruition in late 2014 with the announcement that the industry would be regulated.

RateSetter ended 2014 as the largest P2P lender in the UK by volume (the other major players being Funding Circle, Zopa and LendInvest).

In spring 2015, RateSetter attracted investment from UK fund managers and a global family office.

[citation needed] The company was positive on the regulatory framework that had been put in place in the UK with effect from December 2019, which it believed would be the foundation for the industry maturing after its first decade.

In May 2020, as a contingency for the widespread expectation of increased risk across UK lending due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RateSetter halved the interest rate paid to lenders.

[23] The Australian business, based in Sydney, is managed and majority-owned locally, and was the first peer-to-peer lending platform in the country open to retail customers.

[26] In 2019, 14% of the company was owned by Retail Money Market Ltd;[27] this holding was not included in the 2020 acquisition of the UK business by Metro Bank.