How to invest in European P2P loans with just €1
The mainland European peer-to-peer lending market is heating up. More than a hundred crowdlending platforms are currently open to retail investors on the continent, offering average returns of above 10 per cent.
While some platforms are reserved for high-net worth individuals, approximately 90 platforms have a retail-friendly minimum investment threshold of €100 (£87) or less.
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And for investors who want to test the waters without spending too much money, there are four platforms which welcome new users with as little as €1.
Bondora
The Estonia-based lender is one of the largest and most established platforms in continental Europe, with more than €800m of loans funded to date.
It specialises in consumer loans with target returns of between seven and 15 per cent. Since it was founded in 2008, less than 10 per cent of investor capital has ended up in arrears.
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Oneplanetcrowd
This Netherlands-based crowdlending platform was established in 2014 and allows retail investors to fund business loans with a sustainability focus.
Investors choose to back bonds which offer financial returns of approximately six per cent, along with carbon reduction credits. More than 30,000 investors have backed these bonds over the past nine years.
SaveLend
SaveLend is a Swedish lender which sources its loans from originators. Established in 2016, it specialises in collating loan originators from across Scandinavia. Investors can choose from three different account options – the lower-risk ‘balanced’ account; a medium risk ‘yield’ account; and a manual investing ‘freedom’ account.
At the time of writing, SaveLend was advertising returns of 8.13 per cent to investors, with a minimum investment threshold of just €1.
Twino
One of the most significant P2P lending platforms in mainland Europe, Twino has funded €1.2bn via its loan originators since it was founded in 2009.
The Latvia-based lender is currently targeting returns of between 12 and 14 per cent through investments in consumer lenders based in Latvia, Poland and Vietnam.
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As well as a low investment threshold, it also boasts that it charges no lender fees. Since inception it has reported a one per cent default rate, with 18 per cent of loan payments delayed.