Bondster investors awarded 17pc interest after buyback delays
Czech peer-to-peer lending platform Bondster has said that loan provider RapiCredit has made the last of its outstanding buybacks, delivering investors one of the highest interest rates earned on the platform.
The payout comes after a period of delay. Despite the issues, investors were finally able to recover the entire principal amount they were owed, including interest for the period of delay.
Colombian company RapiCredit was put on Bondster’s platform in 2020. Since then it offered loans worth €11m, with average returns reaching 17 per cent.
Back in June 2022, Bondster told investors that the payment of buybacks had been delayed due to technical issues.
In a statement published on the 2 November, the Bondster team said: “All investors who invested in loans from RapiCredit on Bondster recovered the entire principal owed, including all interest due. Investors’ money was duly compounded with an interest rate of 17 per cent throughout the delay in making buybacks. The only limitation for investors was the temporarily reduced liquidity of these investments.
“We would like to thank all investors for their patience and trust, which was rewarded with one of the highest interest rates earned on Bondster.
“We deeply apologize to the affected investors for the inconvenience caused by the liquidity restriction of certain investments in their portfolios.”
Read more: Bondster apologies for IT glitch that stopped transactions being processed
New loan provider
Bondster has also revealed that it added Loan2go as its new loan provider.
The Czech Republic-based loan provider focuses on financing sole traders and small and medium-sized businesses.
The annual interest rate for loans ranges between 10 and 11 per cent, which come with a short maturity, that typically doesn’t exceed 90 days.
Previously part of US-based Lidya, Loan2go was set up in 2019. After operating as Lidya Czech Republic until 2022, the company was acquired by Czech investors and rebranded to Loan2go.
To date, it has provided more than 2,000 loans worth 500m Czech crowns in total.
For potential borrowers, Loan2go only requires bank statement for the last three months and bases its scoring on the applicant’s current cash flow.
Bondster noted that financing from Loan2go is mainly used by companies operating in transportation, logistics, services, wholesale and retail, including e-commerce.
For 2023, the average amount of loans granted so far has been around 350,000 Czech crowns, with the terms of usually 30, 60 or 90 days
Bondster’s analyst team has assigned Loan2go a B- rating.
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