Tag Archives: peer-to-peer lending

ViaInvest peer-to-peer lending marketplace overview

VIAINVEST is a peer-to-peer marketplace for private lenders to invest into loans originating from non-banking lenders – the VIA SMS Group and its daughter companies. Portfolios of non-banking borrower claims mainly consist of consumer loan requests across Europe.

Unlike traditional banking VIAINVEST offers private investors access to the non-banking lending sector through a simple process.

Borrowers request funding from the VIA SMS Group, the active contract automatically is then mirrored on VIAINVEST making it available for public investment. Each investor has full control of how much he wants to invest, to whom and in which loan. VIAINVEST guarantees a transparent investment environment and full investor support at any time.

VIAINVEST is a part of VIA SMS group – financial services provider operating across Europe. Since its founding in 2008 the company currently operates in 5 countries and has grown into one of the leading European consumer lenders. Company headquarters are located in Riga, Latvia.

ViaInvest in numbers

  • Total value of issued loans in 2017: 96 813 701 EUR
  • Net loan portfolio in 2017: 18 022 102 EUR (+23%)
  • Average size of issued loan: 349 EUR
  • Average annualized interest rate on loans to customers: 115%
  • Revenue in 2017: 20 122 313 (+22%)
  • Non-performing loans to total issued loans: 6.5%
  • Total number of employees around the world: 157
  • Registered investor: 4696
  • Average investor deposit: 4256 EUR
  • Average interest rate of investments: 10.2%

Who is eligible to invest?

Both private and legal entities are welcome to become investors at VIAINVEST. To begin private investments as an individual, you must be at least 18 years old, must complete the registration process and make the first deposit to your VIAINVEST investor account (VIAINVEST accepts payments only from banks within the European Union). If personal information stated in your investor profile matches the bank information of the person transferring funds to the VIAINVEST platform, the investor profile becomes active and you are able to start investing.

Similar requirements also apply to the legal entities – to start investing, the legal entity must register to open the investor account and make the first deposit. If the information provided upon registration matches the company information appearing when transferring funds, investor account is confirmed. Payments made by legal entities are also accepted if transferred from the bank operating within the European Union.

In what currencies can investments be made?

Investor Account can be opened only in EUR, but VIAINVEST accepts deposits in all currencies. Payments received in currencies other than EUR will be converted to EUR according to the Swedbank currency exchange rates.

How can funds be transfered

Deposits to the investor account can be easily made by transferring funds to the ViaInvest bank account.

For investor identification purposes the first payment must be transferred from the personal investor bank account operating within European Union. The payments are processed within 2 work days.

Investing

In order to begin investing investors need to meet the minimum 2 requirements:

There are two options how to make investments:

  • Manual investing – control what loan contracts you would like to invest into and how much:
    1. browse the loans contract listing currently listed on VIAINVEST in the primary market section and pick and choose how you want to build your portfolio,
    2. make full or partial investments into selected listings.
  • Auto-investing – save the time and invest into several loan contracts at once by letting the auto-invest feature to do the work for you:
    1. set the preferred criteria for your auto-invest portfolio,
    2. take your earnings and reinvest them into other loan contracts,
    3. fully automate the investment process without having to log in, manage your investments by changing auto-invest criteria or cancelling this option at any time.

All investments are made in EUR.

Tax issues

As income generated on VIAINVEST is a subject of Withholding Tax, VIAINVEST offers investors to choose 2 ways how these commitments can be handled:

1. Withholding Tax can be applied to the income generated on VIAINVEST within the platform. If the investor does not provide required documents and agrees that his income will be taxed within the platform, no additional actions are required. Income generated on the platform will be taxed according to the legislation of the loan origin country.

2. For Withholding Tax not to be applied to the income within the platform, the investor must take full responsibility of handling these commitments by himself and provide (upload to the investor profile) the copy of personal Tax Certificate issued by the tax authority of the country of investor’s residence. Tax Certificate must be provided before making any investments. If the certificate is not provided all earnings will be taxed in accordance with the appropriate Double Tax Treaty. If the Tax Certificate is uploaded after some investments are made, previously withheld taxes will not be returned to the investor. Only investments that are made after the upload of the Tax Certificate will not be taxed on the platform.

To provide appropriate Tax certificate, please note that income generated on VIAINVEST are paid to investors by loan originators, not the platform itself. Tax Certificate confirms the existence of Double Taxation Convention between the country of investor tax residence and loan origination country/-ies (in this case – Czech Republic, Spain, Latvia). Without a Tax Certificate all earnings will be taxed in accordance with the legislation of the loan origin country – if the loan origin country is Czech Republic – Withholding Tax is 15%, if Spain – 19%, if Latvia – 23%, Poland – 19% for private individuals and 20% for legal entities. Please note that there may be specific cases where Tax/Residence Certificate foresees that investors still need to pay a part of taxes on the platform.

It is required for investors to provide separate Tax/Residence Certificates for each loan origin country. Tax/Residence Certificate must confirm the existence of the treaty for the avoidance of double taxation concluded between the countries of loan origin and investor tax residence.

Future plans

  • Expanding the loan originator list: currently there are 4 loan originators: VIA SMS Ltd. (SIA VIA SMS) in Latvia, VIACONTO MINICREDIT, S.L. in Spain, Via SMS s.r.o. in Czech Republic and VIA SMS PL Sp. z o.o. in Poland. ViaInvest will be introducing a new loan originator from Sweden soon.
  • Planning on launching a VIAINVEST mobile app, in the near future

 

 

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is not a new concept, in fact, it’s been around for centuries. Investopedia describes it as:

Crowdfunding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture. Crowdfunding makes use of the easy accessibility of vast networks of people through social media and crowdfunding websites to bring investors and entrepreneurs together, and has the potential to increase entrepreneurship by expanding the pool of investors from whom funds can be raised beyond the traditional circle of owners, relatives and venture capitalists.

Which can be summarised as decentralizing the banking monopoly by bringing together investors and people in need of finance. It’s unique compared to the traditional method of raising capital (especially a start-up) because your funding options were limited to a small group of wealthy individuals and institutions – today the power is in the hands of the individuals.

3 types of crowdfunding

Whilst there are still many niches of crowdfunding, here are the top 3:

  • Donation Model – This is commonly used for charity projects, such as raising funds for medical costs, foreign aid or specific organizations. Those who donate do not receive anything in return as their motive is usually believing in the specific cause or wanting to help. Two of the biggest platforms in this space are www.justgiving.com and www.gofundme.com.
  • Reward Model – If someone has an idea for a product, they may release the prototype of this on a page like www.kickstarter.com and allow people to make pre-orders. No equity is given here and it gives the business owner the opportunity to ‘Kick-start’ their project with guaranteed customers in the pipeline.
  • Equity model – You’ve seen Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den right? Imagine this, but instead of a panel of 5 billionaire’s you have a panel of thousands of ordinary people willing to invest their hard earned money for a given percentage of a business. The end goal for investors is to receive an appreciation in their initial investment based on the future success of the company, for example, profits and dividends.

The bottom line for the success of each model is a secure and trusted platform that connects both end users. A huge benefit of using these platforms is that some have a screening process that validates the concept or project before posting, it’s then published in a clear and understandable way for everyone. From the perspective of the person looking to raise the funds, they have the advantage of reaching a vast market of investors with most of the marketing and PR taken care of by the platform itself.

What is the difference between Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending and Crowdfunding?

In short, crowdfunding as an investment focuses on the equity based reward whereas P2P investments (occasionally referred to as ‘Debt Crowdfunding’) fund a share of a loan which can be issued for personal, business, real estate use and more. With crowdfunding, your investment grows if the company grows and in turn makes a profit. On the other hand, your P2P investments can start to generate a return for you very quickly as borrowers start to make their monthly repayments, returning your initial principal and also interest on a monthly basis.

Generally, P2P lending can be viewed as lower risk and does not require the investors to have any previous financial knowledge as most platforms take care of all the hard work of screening the borrowers for you.

What are the benefits of crowdfunding and P2P other than interest?

This form of micro-financing truly is something revolutionary. Giving the power back to the individuals to mass fund a project that they truly believe in has a positive snowball effect on the wider economy. Projects and borrowers that traditionally may not have been funded by the banks (and would therefore have been forgotten about) now have a unique chance, with the end result being:

  • More small companies
  • More jobs
  • More social mobility
  • Less social inequality
  • Integrated society
  • More value and control for investors

Source: Bondora.com

ExpressCredit now offers investment opportunities in personal loans from Zambia on Mintos p2p lending marketplace

Mintos logo

Following a successful launch of ExpressCredit Botswana on Mintos, ExpressCredit now offers you investment opportunities from Zambia as well, through its local company YesCash Zambia Limited. Now you can invest in its Zambia-issued personal loans and enjoy returns of up to 14%.

ExpressCredit prides itself on its customer service and endeavours to give its clients a personal approach through its seven branches and two sales offices in Zambia, with more branches to be opened in 2018. It was incorporated on May 11, 2016, and obtained a non-deposit taking microfinance institution licence on December 23, 2016, from the regulatory governing body, the Bank of Zambia. Some of the equity investors in ExpressCredit and Mintos overlap.

Currently, ExpressCredit primarily offers short-term loans to its customers and matches the repayment dates of the loan to their salaries. It also offers instalment loans to employees of institutions from the Government of Zambia. The company has received a PERMIC code from the Office of the President under the Public Service Management division which allows the company to directly debit repayments from the borrower’s salary. For borrowers who are not employed by the Government, the repayments are directly debited from their bank account. As a result, ExpressCredit loans from Zambia have one of the lowest default rates on Mintos. Initially, the loan originator will place its short-term loans for investment on Mintos, which it issues to non-Government employees.

“ExpressCredit is pleased to expand our presence on the best marketplace for loans in the world. Our mission is to deliver accessible and affordable financial solutions through superior customer service and technological innovation to become one of the top microfinance organisations in Zambia. Our partnership with Mintos and continuous investments in technology, branch network and people will ensure that we follow our mission,” says Chilufya Mutale, CEO of ExpressCredit.

The average Zambia-issued short-term loan from ExpressCredit is around EUR 137 and you can expect a net annual return of up to 14%. Borrowers repay the loan in a single instalment after 30 days.

All loans from ExpressCredit on Mintos are secured with a buyback guarantee and will be bought back by the company if it becomes delinquent for more than 60 days. In addition, the company will maintain 15% of each loan placed on the marketplace on its balance sheet as its skin in the game.

As of February 2018, ExpressCredit had a total loan book size of more than EUR 3.6 million. After its business launch in the fourth quarter of 2016, the company reached its first positive EBITDA in November 2017, while recording its first net profits after tax in February 2018. The company achieved EUR 164 thousand of total profits in its first two months of operations in 2018. The company is continually looking at opportunities for innovation and increasing its ability to cater for all of its customer’s needs.

Is peer-to-peer lending safe for income investors?

Anyone who has borrowed to buy a car or a taken out a home mortgage is familiar with the basics of how a loan works.

In a nutshell, borrowers ask for money, and lenders decide how likely it is that they will see that money back. If repayment is unlikely, those lenders charge a high rate of interest to offset that risk, and if the borrower is trustworthy they charge a lower rate of interest to win the business from competing banks.

But loans aren’t just ways to buy things. They can also be powerful ways to invest for income.

For instance, bonds are essentially a debt that’s owed by a corporation or a government to investors. A 10-year U.S. Treasury bond is a 10-year loan to Uncle Sam, and at current rates the government will pay you about 2.3 percent annually in interest – along with repaying your initial loan in full at the end of a decade.

That’s not just a nice way to grow your money, but a safe one, too.

In a digital age, debt markets have become more accessible for both investors and borrowers alike. Consumers can easily compare dozens of loans on the internet, investors can research and purchase a wide variety of bonds with a click of their mouse and more competition drives down the costs of a loan for well-qualified borrowers.

Another interesting development in debt markets has been the rise of peer-to-peer lending.

Peer-to-peer lending went mainstream about 10 years ago, with the launch of Prosper and Lending Club as two of the first large U.S. portals for so-called P2P loans. The idea was simple: an individual borrower makes their case for why you should give them money, and regular consumers can decide if it’s worth putting up the money.

It may sound like a scam to the skeptical or to the risk-averse. But remarkably, it worked in many cases – and continues to work today.

A common example is someone who has $5,000 in credit card debt with a 20 percent annual interest rate, who is asking the P2P community to lend them $5,000 at 8 percent or 10 percent. Everyone wins in that scenario, with the borrower paying less to their credit card company and the internet lender getting a nice return on their investment.

The downside, of course, is that investors who purchase debt via bonds from brick-and-mortar corporations have a much easier time of knowing what they’re getting in to. On a peer-to-peer lending site, doing your due diligence is much harder.

So how do you know if peer-to-peer lending is right for you?

Well, for starters you need to assess your risk profile. The potential for 8 percent or 15 percent annual returns is nice, but there is a very real case your money is just walking out the door. So never consider P2P lending if you can’t afford to lose a big chunk of that principal.

If peer-to-peer lending is still an option you’re interested in, then find a major peer-to-peer lender that is transparent about its process and track record. That doesn’t make your investment in P2P loans via these sites a sure thing by any stretch, but can help mitigate some of the risks of default.

Lastly, always consider the importance of diversification. If you want to invest in peer-to-peer lending then make sure it’s only a limited part of your portfolio. And rather than dish out $10,000 in loans to one person on a P2P portal, consider 100 smaller loans of $100 a piece so you don’t get hit as hard in the event of default.

 

ID Finance now offers loans for investment from Kazakhstan on Mintos p2p lending marketplace

Mintos logo

ID Finance now offers even more investment opportunities on Mintos by launching its Kazakhstan-issued personal loans listed in Euro (EUR) and Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) on the marketplace under its Solva brand. This is in addition to the loans already available for investment from Georgia and Spain.

Solva Kazakhstan specialises in issuing personal online loans to individuals and small and micro-entrepreneurs. The company offers borrowers fast access to funds, an online application can be made in less than eight minutes and borrowers receive a decision instantly. Since its establishment in 2016, it has funded more than 6 100 loans worth around EUR 4 million. The operations of Solva Kazakhstan are regulated by the National Bank of Kazakhstan. ID Finance Group has two fully-owned lending companies operating in Kazakhstan – Solva Kazakhstan and MoneyMan Kazakhstan.

The average Kazakhstan-issued loan on Mintos from Solva Kazakhstan is EUR 650. You can expect an average net annual return of up to 11% for the company’s loans listed in EUR and 17% for KZT loans.

Solva Kazakhstan loans are secured with a buyback guarantee and will be repurchased if they are delinquent for more than 60 days. In addition, the company will retain 10% of each loan placed on the marketplace.

Established in 2012, the ID Finance group is a pioneer in the fintech industry in emerging markets. It is a fast-growing data science, credit scoring and digital finance provider. It is the largest online consumer lender in the CIS region and a leading one in Europe. Headquartered in Barcelona, the company operates in Spain, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Poland, Russia, Brazil and Mexico. The Research and Development centre of ID Finance is based in Minsk, Belarus. So far, the group has originated loans worth more than EUR 275 million and it had a net loan portfolio of around USD 77 million, as of December 31, 2017.

ID Finance joined Mintos in 2017 and has since funded EUR 21 million worth of loans. Kazakhstan is the third country the company offers investment opportunities from on Mintos and it currently lists loans in three currencies – EUR, KZT and the Georgian Lari (GEL).

Top 4 reasons why borrowers choose P2P lending platforms instead of banks

As investors, hopefully you are already aware of the multitude of advantages available to you by investing with a peer-to-peer lending platform. An important questions that is not so commonly discussed is, why do borrowers use P2P platforms instead of banks?

Below are the top 4 reasons why borrowers choose a P2P platform rather than a bank for an unsecured loan.

1. Purpose

Whilst every P2P platform is different, collectively they are certainly much less restrictive than the traditional banks when it comes to the purpose of a loan. Whether it’s for real-estate, starting a business or a once in a lifetime vacation trip – P2P platforms cater to all. That being said, most choose to specialize in a specific area.

2. Faster

Imagine – You decide you need to take out a loan, great. Now, you call the bank to make an application and they tell you that you will need to go to their city center branch and meet with an advisor. You take a day off work, travel out of your way to the bank with a thick folder full of paperwork and documents hoping you have everything that you need. Next, you’re subjected to an hour long application full of strenuous and pedantic questions. As the meeting ends, the advisor tells you he’s going to send off all of your documents to their head office for underwriting and you should receive confirmation in the post in 4 – 6 weeks. 6 weeks have passed by and you receive a letter saying unfortunately, we cannot accept you for a loan at this time.

Need we say any more?

Most P2P platforms have an automated online experience where you enter all of your information, upload your documents and receive an instant decision. How? Advanced technology and a service built to exceed customers expectations. This one is a no brainer.

3. Cheaper

Contrary to popular belief, many P2P platforms offer their customers interest rates that are even lower than those offered by the banks. Mainly, this applies to the platforms offering longer durations on their loans – those issuing loans with durations ranging from 1 – 3 months typically charge extremely high interest rates with huge default rates.

Looking at this from a psychological perspective is also worthwhile, since logically you can deduce that the financial awareness and responsibility of a borrower who takes out a €300 loan at 1,000% APR for one month, is most likely not as trustworthy as someone taking out a longer term commitment. Most financially aware borrowers would withdraw their application once seeing a huge rate of interest and reconsider if the short term loan is actually necessary for them.

Bringing all of this together, P2P platforms allow borrowers to see and interact with all of this information up front – such as by using tools offered by the platform to see how their payment will change depending on the duration and amount of their loan, letting them take full control.

4. Unique credit scoring

A win-win advantage for all parties involved is the unique credit scoring models offered by the P2P platforms. Typically, main stream banks use the standard credit referencing agencies as a sole source of information on a borrowers credit-worthiness due to the ease of access and cost efficiency. On the other hand, P2P platforms uses a proprietary credit modelling system that uses traditional data such as the credit referencing agencies, population registries, employment records and also non-traditional data like social media, national identity card data, how they interact with our website and 100’s of more data points.

For the borrowers, this creates a seamless experience that gives them a quick decision for a loan application which is often for a time-sensitive purpose. For investors, this gives them the opportunity to invest in loans with different credit ratings based on their own risk appetite. Most importantly, all of this builds trust and long lasting relationships with both borrowers and investors alike.

Remember, P2P is person-to-person, so your investments are going to real people and boosting the societal value of the sharing economy in finance.

Source: Bondora.com

Investment opportunities are now available in USD on Mintos p2p lending marketplace

Mintos logo

You can now invest in 11 currencies on Mintos as loans listed in the US Dollar (USD) are now available on the marketplace. This is thanks to GetBucks, which now also lists its Botswana-issued consumer loans in the USD, in addition to Euro (EUR).

“We enjoy offering investors the ability to diversify their portfolio, whilst at the same time ensuring our funding matches some of our external exposures.  The addition of the USD to Mintos is a great way to achieve diversification for all parties,” says Tim Nuy, CEO of MyBucks.

GetBucks loans listed in USD will be the same as all Botswana-issued consumer loans on Mintos from the company. These loans are issued by three subsidiaries of the company, Cashcorp (Proprietary) Limited, GetBucks Botswana and TU Employee Benefits (Proprietary) Ltd (TU). On Mintos, Cashcorp offers investors short-term loans, whereas GetBucks Botswana and TU place their long-term personal loans for investment on the marketplace.

The average short-term Botswana-issued loan from GetBucks is USD 300, with a repayment period of 30 days. You can expect an average net annual return of up to 11%.

Botswana-issued long-term loans from GetBucks range from around USD 100 to USD 50 000 and the repayment period is from 6 to 36 months. The expected annual net return is up to 13%.

“The addition of the USD to our marketplace is a great achievement. One of our aims at Mintos is to give our investors many opportunities to achieve their investment goals. Now, investors have the opportunity to invest in 11 currencies on the marketplace- and this will only continue to grow. We hope investors will enjoy investing in loans listed in USD, which is the most commonly traded currency in the world,” says Martins Sulte, CEO and Co-founder of Mintos.

GetBucks offers a large range of products on Mintos, including consumer loans in Botswana, Poland and recently added investment opportunities in Kenya and Zambia. The company now offers loans for investment on Mintos in three currencies – EUR, Polish zloty and USD.

MoneyMetro changes its name to VIZIA

As of March 26, 2018, the brand MoneyMetro has changed its name to VIZIA. The name of the brand was changed because its consumer lending operations were moved into a fully online environment.

The company believes that brand VIZIA has a better position in the competitive online lending market in Latvia. The name change of MoneyMetro to VIZIA will have no effect on loans issued under the MoneyMetro brand.

If you currently invest on Mintos peer-to-peer lending marketplace in loans from MoneyMetro your investments will automatically update with the new name.

VIZIA (previously MoneyMetro) is fully owned by ExpressCredit Group, the leading consumer financial services chain in Latvia. ExpressCredit was founded in 2009. Operating under different brands, including Banknote and VIZIA, it has become a trusted partner for more than 300 000 borrowers across Latvia.

Source: Mintos.com

Mogo has expanded its cashback campaign on Mintos p2p lending marketplace

Mintos logo

Mintos have great news for the investors who have been enjoying Mogo’s cashback campaign! From April 5, 2018, until April 16, 2018, Mogo has expanded its cashback campaign and now offers you the opportunity to earn a cashback of up to 5% if you invest in its loans with a maturity of one year or more.

You will now get a cashback of:

– 1% for investing in Mogo loans with a maturity of 12 to 23 months;

– 2% for investing in Mogo loans with a maturity of 24 to 35 months;

– 3% for investing in Mogo loans with a maturity of 36 to 47 months;

– 4% for investing in Mogo loans with a maturity of 48 to 59 months;

– 5% for investing in Mogo loans with a maturity of 60 months or more.

If you have already invested in Mogo’s cashback campaign, your account will be automatically updated.

If you haven’t participated in Mogo’s campaign, then make sure you enrol in the campaign first before you make your investments.

Only investments made on the primary market qualify for this campaign.

 

For other bonuses visit our Cash-back & Bonuses page.

Debifo tripled the number of its clients in 2017

In 2017, the invoice financing company Debifo earned even more trust from both clients and investors – the company improved all key performance indicators and attracted new clients, thus becoming the largest non-bank invoice financer in Lithuania by the number of clients.

The number of Debifo clients grew from 50 in 2016 to 153 last year. According to Justas Šaltinis, Director of Debifo, active adaptation of services to the needs of small and medium-sized business could be pointed out among the key reasons for this growth.

“Last year, flexibility, transparent price and speed were our key priorities. We approve financing within three days; however, there have been cases when we have approved financing on the same day.

“Our ability to quickly approve financing is particularly appreciated by small companies with the turnover of up to EUR 1 million, yet there has been an increasing interest from larger medium-sized companies,” says Mr Šaltinis.

In total last year, Debifo financed invoices for almost a triple amount than in 2016. The value of invoices financed last year accounted for EUR 20.5 million. The average amount of Debifo financed invoice reached EUR 3500.

Last year, Debifo managed to expand the circle of its clients, attracting much more clients oriented to export markets – in 2017, they accounted for 32 percent of clients, whereas in 2016 – as few as 1 percent. The majority of Debifo clients are from wholesale trade, logistics, medicine, construction and other sectors.

Last year, the company also succeeded in gaining investors’ trust. It signed a financing agreement with the UK investment fund Advance Global Capital (AGC), reached 4500 investors on the peer-to-peer lending Mintos marketplace. At the end of the year, Debifo controlled an active portfolio of EUR 3 million.

“Conclusion of an agreement with AGC, which is one of the key players in the non-bank factoring market, is an important step in guaranteeing uninterrupted financing from a reliable partner as well as proof that we have been gaining more trust and recognition in the international market,” notes Mr. Šaltinis.

Last year, Debifo was also recognised as the TOP Company in the assessment of business credibility implemented by Rekvizitai.lt. This recognition, achieved by as few as 5 per cent of the most credible and economically stable companies, is highly significant for innovative and ambitious business. The award of the TOP Company is not the first achievement of Debifo. In 2016, Debifo won the award of the financial service of the year in the Service of the Year competition organised by the Lithuanian Business Confederation (LBC). The company has also been mentioned among 5 most promising financial sector start-ups in the prestigious business publication Forbes.

Source: Mintos.com

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