Mintos sees investments climb in March
European lending marketplace Mintos has reported a surge in investments in March, with €90.7m (£79.6m) worth of loans funded.
The platform paid total interest of €4.3m to investors over the month, which it said was largely driven by a decrease in pending payments.
The average interest rate for March was 12.66 per cent, resulting in an average net return of 2.83 per cent for the year-to-date.
The all-time interest earned by investors on Mintos now stands at €225m, with the total invested amounting to €8.7bn.
Read more: Mintos interest rates dip in February as daily average investments rise
“While total investments increased, notes available for investments decreased”, said Mintos head of partnerships Peteris Mikelsons.
“The average interest rate also slightly dipped from 13.3 per cent in February to 13.1 per cent for EUR investments. Looking ahead, it is expected that the supply and demand for notes on Mintos will remain stable, resulting in interest rates fluctuating at around 13 per cent.”
The update for investors came as part of a blog offering a wider market analysis, reflecting on the first quarter of the year.
The platform said that just over a year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite sanctions and payment restrictions, progress has been made in recovering investors’ funds from Russian lending companies.
As of 1 March 2023, €10m in war-affected loans has been repaid by the Russian lending companies, and agreements have been reached with all but one company.
Read more: Investor confidence trends lower one year after Ukraine invasion
Commenting on the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank and Credit Suisse, Mintos warned other banks may lower their risk profiles, issuing fewer loans and making it harder for central banks to raise benchmark rates to control inflation without causing recessions.
However, it highlighted that analysts still believe the banking sector is in a much stronger position than it was in 2008, when we saw the last major banking crisis.
Read more: Mintos launches French language app