The company’s P2P lending platform Octopus Choice has gained FCA authorisation, it revealed this week.

This opens the door for an ISA version of Octopus Choice, following the launch of the Innovative Finance ISA by the Government last year.

Only firms that have received full FCA authorisation are eligible to offer an IFISA. The Octopus Choice team is currently developing the ISA product with a view to introducing it later in the year, it said.

Octopus Choice was launched after talks with financial advisers in April 2016, to coincide with the FCA’s decision to broaden the scope of advisers’ permissions to include P2P lending.

Richard Wazacz, head of Octopus Choice, said: “The incredible demand we’ve witnessed in the nine months since launch underlines the level of interest that financial advisers and their clients have shown for this type of solution, especially at a time of low interest rates and rising inflation. The authorisation from the regulator and prospect of an Octopus Choice ISA will only help bolster that demand.

“While we’re currently working on an ISA version of the product that will be made available later this year, our primary focus is on giving the best possible service to the thousands of financial advisers and investors we’ve already attracted.”

The company said it had already facilitated nearly £45m of borrowing across more than 75 deals.