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 four 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.

Mintos

The first platform that I wanted to mention in this article is Mintos. Compared to other platforms that also act as loan originators (the company that proposes the loans), Mintos is more like a marketplace where different loan originators are listing their loans. This makes it a really interesting platform to invest on, as it gives you exposure to several countries and several kinds of loans in each country. That's instant diversification on a single platform.

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 is actually also protected by a buyback guarantee, meaning that even if somebody stopped paying back a loan you will still get your money back. Also, all of their loans are attached to a security, like a car or an apartment, which will then be used to pay back the loan if the borrower doesn't pay back.

Bondora

The second platform I will mention here is Bondora, which is actually the first one I invested in. Based in Estonia, this platform was for a long time the biggest platform in Europe outside of the UK. It has a very nice interface, a lot of loans available, and also an excellent portfolio manager that allows you to choose your level of risk and automatically invest for you. This makes it an excellent platform and I believe you should definitely allocate some part of your P2P lending investments on Bondora.

There are two things that I, however, don't like so much about Bondora. The first thing is that there is no buyback guarantee on the loans proposed by Bondora, therefore exposing you to more risk compared to other platforms like Mintos. However, the returns are usually higher than other platforms. The second thing I don't like that much is that there is no way to invest by hand, you need to use their portfolio manager. However, the portfolio manager is working very well and has given me consistent returns since the time I started investing on Bondora.

Lendy

The third platform I will mention here is Lendy, which is a platform based in the UK. Compared to other platforms, all the loans on Lendy are attached to some real estate projects, for example renovating a building. This makes it really interesting, as you are both investing in P2P lending loans but also indirectly in the UK real estate market. They don't have a fully automated way to invest in new loans, however, you can pre-allocate some of your money so it will be automatically invested once new loans are available.

One thing I don't like (and that I actually discussed a lot with some of you) is that there are actually a lot of loans going to default on Lendy. However, there are loans that will go to default on all platforms, and it's up to you to diversify your investments in as many loans as possible to reduce the risk and keep a good return rate.

Twino

The last platform I wanted to mention here is Twino. Twino is also based in Latvia, and also proposes mostly loans that come with a buyback guarantee, so it's a really safe platform to invest in. As of 2017, they have been active for 5 years, and also have been profitable which is very good sign of stability in the future. You can also completely automate your investments, so it's also a platform where you can make a completely passive Peer-to-Peer lending investments. The only issue I got at some point with Twino is that they didn't have enough good loans to invest in (loans protected by the buyback guarantee), so I had some money sitting there for a month or so. However, they quickly introduced more quality loans, and I didn't have the problem since.

Those four 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.

Do you also have a favorite platform for P2P lending investments? Do you agree with my selection? Don't hesitate to comment below!