Some image

Best European P2P Lending Platforms in 2021

Last Update:
October 15, 2021

Peer-to-Peer lending is one of my favorite ways to invest money, especially because it can be completely automated and the returns are great. I am often asked what are my favorite platforms to invest in, which is why I decided to write this article in which I'll tell you what are my current favorite Peer-to-Peer lending platforms.

You will notice that all of those platforms are located in Europe. Indeed, as a European resident, I can't, for example, invest in platforms in the US, and I am of course only recommending platforms I am using myself. However, most of those platforms accept investors from outside of Europe. 

How to choose a good Peer-to-Peer Lending  Platform?

Before going to the list of platforms, I wanted to tell you about how I choose the platforms that I put in my portfolio and of course in this article. There are two sets of criteria: objective, and subjective.

To choose a platform therefore, I first look at objective criteria, such as the expected yield of the platform, whether the platform has a buyback guarantee, and whether there is an auto-invest function. I also check if the platform has an investment license or has applied for such a license, which is a very important criterion.

After making a first selection with these objective criteria, I also use more subjective criteria to select my platforms, such as my own experience with the platform. I will use this opportunity to state that I invest personally on each of the platforms present in this article. The first subjective criterion on which I base myself for the selection is the effective yield of the platforms, which is very often different from the advertised yield. For that, I use TrackInvest, a software that I developed and which allows to import the transactions from the platforms before obtaining the real return. I then compare it to the yield announced by the platforms.

Here are the details on each of the platforms I want to tell you about in this article:

Mintos



The first platform that I wanted to mention in this article is Mintos. Mintos is currently the largest Peer-to-Peer lending platform in Europe, and offer a huge amount of loans to invest in. This makes it a really interesting platform to invest in, as it gives you exposure to several countries and several kinds of loans in each country. That's instant diversification on a single platform. The platform also offers solid returns to investors, around 12%.

On top of that, the interface is really easy to use, and they also have a great portfolio manager so you can set everything once and then just let it invest for you. A large portion of their loans actually also come with a buyback guarantee, meaning that even if somebody stopped paying back a loan you will still get your money back.

As for all platforms in this article, I've been investing personally on Mintos (since 2015). Event after the events of the COVID-19 crisis, during which some of the loan originators on the platform had some issues to pay back money to Mintos, I am still having strong returns on Mintos, currently at 10.87%. They also communicated very well during the crisis, with emails about each loan originators & how the money will be recovered. Things are now much better on the platform, and I expected my yields to come back close to 12% in the future.

For all of those reasons, I definitely recommend Mintos as the best European Peer-to-Peer lending platform. It's the ideal platform to start an investment portfolio or to add to an already existing portfolio.
Pros:
Buyback guarantee on most of the loans
Huge amount of loans available
Really easy to diversify
Auto-invest function
Investment firm license
Cons:
Auto-invest function sometimes slow to react

Twino


The second platform I wanted to mention here is Twino. As for other platforms I mention on this page, most of their loans come with a buyback guarantee, so it's a really safe platform to invest in. As of 2020, they have been active for 5 years, and also have been profitable which is very good sign of stability in the future.

What makes Twino different from the other platforms inside this article is that they also propose real estate investment opportunities called Twino Ventures, which allows you to easily diversify in many assets while staying on the same platform. You can also completely automate your investments on the platform, so Twino is also a platform where you can make completely passive Peer-to-Peer lending investments.

I've been investing on Twino since 2015, and never had any issue with the platform. My current yield is at 10.71%, which is close to what the platform is advertising on their site.

To sum up, Twino has been delivering consistently since the beginning, and I really recommend it to put in any investment portfolio.
Pros:
Solid returns (around 11%)
Buyback guarantee
Possibility to diversify in real estate projects
Cons:
Sometimes limited loan volume

Viainvest



The third platform I will mention here is Viainvest. As for other platforms in this review, Viainvest proposes a buyback guarantee on most of the loans present on the platform, which is something very nice to have as an investor. Their auto-invest function also works great, and is very easy to setup. Viainvest also has a very clear and easy to use interface, and excellent customer support that solved some issue that I had in a matter of minutes.

What makes Viainvest different from other platforms is that they are actually in the middle of getting an investment brokerage firm (IBF) license, which would make them the first platform of this kind to get such a license. This is definitely a great signal for investors, as it means they are a very transparent company and always willing to innovate to be more trustworthy for investors.

I've also been investing personally on Viainvest since 2018, and never had any issues with the platform. My current yield on the platform is at 11.83%, which is very close to what is announced by the platform.

Similar to the first two platforms, I had solid results since the beginning on Viainvest, and therefore I really recommend having this platform in your portfolio.
Pros:
Solid returns around 11%
Buyback guarantee on all loans
Efficient auto-invest function
Cons:
No secondary market

PeerBerry


I also wanted to mention PeerBerry, which is a solid Peer-to-Peer lending platform in which I started to invest in back in 2018. They also offer everything you need from a good Peer-to-Peer lending platform: buyback guarantee on most loans, a great diversity of loan originators & loan types, and an auto-invest function that is really easy to setup. 

Plus, they offer good interest rates as well (they advertise an average return of 11.57%), and I only got solid results from the platform since I started investing. Currently, my yield on the platform is at 11.32% after several years on investing on the platform.

They also have a great team that is always there to answer any questions. Therefore, I also recommend adding PeerBerry to your Peer-to-Peer lending portfolio in order to diversify your investments.
Pros:
Buyback guarantee on all loans
Great auto-invest function
Really easy to use
Easy to diversify
Cons:
Sometimes limited loan volume
Returns slightly lower than competition

Debitum



Finally, I also wanted to mention in this article the platform Debitum. Debitum is a more recent platform but which has all the qualities of the platforms present in this article - such as buyback guarantee on loans, as well as an auto-invest function. The platform also recently applied for an investment license, which is also a very good sign.

They also have a very innovative interface that is really easy to use, and opening an account on the platform was really easy. 

As for all the platforms in this article, I personally invest in Debitum. After more than 2 years on the platform, I have always had solid returns and my current yield is around 10%, which is above the average yield announced by the platform at 8%.
Pros:
Buyback guarantee on most loans
Applied for an investment license
Cons:
Yields slightly lower than other platforms

To Sum Up

Those platforms are really my favorite, and as you can see in the details of my portfolio I currently have investments in all of them.

People often ask me which is the number one platform that they should invest in. It's difficult to really give an answer as I recommend diversification in several platforms, but I systematically answer Mintos as my favorite platform to get started in Peer-to-Peer lending investment. The platform is easy to use, most of the loans come with a buyback guarantee, and also they are always diversifying into more and more countries & loan originators. So definitely my number one pick when it comes to Peer-to-Peer lending.