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. Here is an overview of my current top four platforms in Europe:
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 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.
As for all platforms in this article, I've been investing personally on Mintos (since 2015). Here is a graph showing my accumulated gains from Mintos since I started investing:
As you can tell, I got solid returns from Mintos since I started investing more than 4 years ago. I currently have a solid yield on the platform at nearly 12%, and my money is safe as I invested only in loans with buyback guarantee. Therefore, 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.
Mintos Pros
Buyback guarantee on most of the loans
Huge amount of loans available
Really easy to diversify
Auto-invest function
Secondary market
Mintos Cons
Auto-invest function sometimes slow to react
#2 - 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. Here are my accumulated returns since I started to invest on the platform:
As you can tell, Twino has been delivering consistently since the beginning, and I really recommend it to put in any investment portfolio.
Twino Pros
Solid returns (around 11%)
Buyback guarantee
Possibility to diversify in real estate projects
Twino Cons
Sometimes limited loan volume
#3 - 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 here is a graph showing my accumulated returns on 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.
Viainvest Pros
Solid returns around 11%
Buyback guarantee on all loans
Efficient auto-invest function
Viainvest Cons
No secondary market
#4 - PeerBerry
The last platform I will mention here is 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, and I only got solid results from the platform since I started investing:
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.
PeerBerry Pros
Buyback guarantee on all loans
Great auto-invest function
Really easy to use
Easy to diversify
PeerBerry Cons
Sometimes limited loan volume
Returns slightly lower than competition
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!
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Chua Wai Yuen
8 days ago
Do those p2p platforms accept investors from Malaysia ?
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Marco Schwartz Chua Wai Yuen
5 days ago
Hi! That's a good question, I am currently compiling data about those platforms on my site https://p2padvisor.io/ where you will be able for example to filter by country in a near future :)
Danuela
2 months ago
after Envestio you understand that the greatest risk does not come from who finances, but from the platform, which can disappear with your euros. € 4800 gone.
Nobody controls anything
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kostas Danuela
2 months ago
please Danuela give some more info on what you are saying about those 4800 euros
Joseph Galea
3 months ago
Hi Marco,
Great article as usual!
What do you think of Mintos Pending payments? I am worried that it will be an issue of loan defaults :( especially their recent announcements on LuteCredit and Monego :(...
What do you think?
Thanks
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Marco Schwartz Joseph Galea
2 months ago
Hi, thank you! I think pending payments simply add more transparency to the platform - I believe the best way to avoid any issues with defaults is to diversify across as many loan originators as possible on the platform.
Chris F.
4 months ago
Great article indeed! I agree about Mintos being my #1 choice when it comes to p2p investing. I’m also considering some other platforms. Have you heard about some of these? -> https://futuroh.es/ranking-plataformas-crowdlending/
I don’t know too much about some of them. Any advice?
Thanks a lot. Cheers!
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Julien
4 months ago
For those who come from France or Belgium, I started crowdleding two years ago, I had time to test cool platforms like wesharebonds and www.lookandfin.com, however there are others (I won't name them) that are much less serious. I can only advise you to get the information you need before you take action!
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Vincent Feltkamp
5 months ago
The UK is more than 75% of the market in Europe, even after Brexit the UK will be in Europe. the Largest one in the UK, Zopa is much bigger than Mintos. It doesn't apparently allow investors nor creditors from outside the UK though.
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Bruno Leal
5 months ago
I've been investigating this P2P type of investments and I've invested for now in Mintos and Grupeer.
I was planning to invest on Fast Invest, but I'm getting some "bad reviews" feedback in terms of company being trustworthy. For example, they have (or had at some point in time) offices in the UK, but they don't accept investors from the UK, they don't disclose the loans originators, etc. What is your view on this?
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Gabriele
6 months ago
Secondary market on Grupeer?
https://www.grupeer.com/secondary-market
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Marco Schwartz Gabriele
6 months ago
Updated the article :)
Roderik
8 months ago
I am a bit surprised to see that if these are your 4 favourite platforms it doesn't really line up with your allocations. You allocate only a small part of your crowdlending portfolio to Grupeer and Fast Invest, compared to much larger allocations in Property Moose and House Crowd (which did not make it into this top 4 list). What is the reason that your allocations are so different, or is the money stuck in these platforms and you are currently less happy with them?
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Marco Schwartz Roderik
7 months ago
Hi Roderik, basically in this article I only talk about Peer-to-Peer platforms focused on consumer loans, which is why Housers or Property Partner don't appear. You can actually find them on my other article: https://marcoschwartz.com/best-real-estate-crowdfunding-platforms
Alfredo
8 months ago
About Fast Invest, in MoneyBack Guarantee they say " it’s important to note that whenever you sell a loan ahead of time, you lose all the interest accrued so far. You will only receive the full amount of the initial investment. The MoneyBack Guarantee icon indicates those payments that have been secured by our Moneyback Guarantee. How they do that? If the money is credited on your account every month and you withdrawal it, how they take the money they already give?
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Marco Schwartz Alfredo
7 months ago
Hi Alfredo, in the case there is not enough money on your account to cover it they will block money on future earnings.
Lars Woetmann Pedersen
10 months ago
You must be joking, so many people have lost money on Bondora because of the high default rates and you still rank it in the top 4???
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Marco Schwartz Lars Woetmann Pedersen
9 months ago
Hi, I believe many people lost money on Bondora by investing in high-yielding loans that all defaulted. I suggested, however, to use the platform by investing only in the best-rated loans, or via Go & Grow. With this approach, I believe Bondora is an excellent platform to invest on.
Nicola
10 months ago
Do you really like Bondora? when did you start investing with them? I have a lot of doubts regarding their underwriting process, using the platform since 2015.
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Aivaras
10 months ago
Hello Marco,
first of all, let me thank you for all the effort you did to investigate and test all platforms.
My question about Bondora. I heard that now only Go and Grow is available. But which plan you use? how many % interest? Because I tried to find more information - many users taking money back from Bondoros now. Only withdraws, no reinvest.
Have you heard anything about this?
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Cyril
a year ago
Hi Marcos,
i was wondering if you have come across the platform called Funding Circle and what are your thoughts on it.
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Mikel
a year ago
Thanks for the article, looks like a great material to read. I do not consider all these platforms as an serious investment place, more like 'fun investment', because none of these have warranties. So far I've bee using Mintos and amount of money, which I have there is approx 3k eur, as one person mentioned - this is maximum, which i'm not afraid to loose if smth happens.
This platform has Latvian roots and became very popular within Europe, not sure if there are many investors from Latvia there. Also there is a Twino platform, the main difference AFAIK is that Twino invest in their own loans - Bino etc, while Mintos (at least they claim) can invest in many platforms. There are rumors, that Mintos=Twino=Bino etc, and all the companies where Mintos allows to invest also has Mintos shareholder roots, but that' s different story.
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Peter K - https://p2pincome.eu
a year ago
I honestly think that Bondora should be replaced with something like ViaInvest or Envestio but to each their own I guess. I have recently started a blog and would love your input on it: https://p2pincome.eu
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Frank
a year ago
Hi Marco,
thanks for the great article. I'd like to chip in on your exchange with Bert, as I too share his concern over the actual platform going bust. I have only very recently started investing small sums on several platforms and what I did was a sort of 'mini due diligence' on each of them. In doing so I looked at;
1. Financial statements;
- if not publicly available I don't invest on this platform
- if loss making I don't investon this platform
- if only small profit compared to size of portfolio on this platform
2. Platform business model risks
- if platform guarantees payback to investors (like Twino does), I (certainly) don't invest, as in my view these are ticking time bombs waiting to implode on over exposure.
3. Financial backing of the platform
- I try to stick to the platforms that are funded by reputable venture capital partners. I know this is not a guarantee for non-default, but it does indicate a level of 'sophistication' in their operation.
- Alternatively I prefer the platforms that are large enough in revenue streams to be able to weather an internal/financial storm.
I am curious whether what other selection criteria you (Marco) or the readers of this blog use!
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John
a year ago
Great article, thanks Marco!
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Marco Schwartz John
a year ago
You're welcome!
Ders
a year ago
Like your first 2 selections, and I avoid (and will avoid) last 2.
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Bert
a year ago
Thanks for the article! I have invested around 1000 Euros each on Mintos, Bondora and Twino. I started about a year ago and thus far, it mostly seems to be going well although both Twino and Mintos constantly leave cash in my account as their portfolio managers can't seem to find any investments that match my criteria.
However, the main question that I'm asking myself is "how likely is any of these platforms going to fail?". Since they spread your money over dozens of investments (typically averaging 3 to 10 Euros per loan, depending on settings) it seems very unlikely to me that anyone would be able to collect their money should the platform itself default. In theory there's a direct contract between the investor and the debitor and the platform only arranges it and takes a cut - but trying to chase a 1000 Euro investment split into 150 different loans, all spread across Estonia, Latvia, Russia and Spain... that seems rather unrealistic to me :-)
I may have this wrong (and please correct me in that case) but so far my general take on P2P investing is: Only invest money that you're ready to lose, entirely. China just recently saw a whole bunch of P2P platforms fail, and once the first one in Europe fails I wouldn't be surprised about some sort of a domino effect here either. It might be caused by rising interest or tighter regulation or Brexit or whatever combination of triggers it takes...
But it would be very interesting to hear some more opinions on this topic as it seems to be an aspect that is rarely discussed on the web, for whatever reason. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, who knows?
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Marco Schwartz Bert
a year ago
Hi Bert, thanks for the comment! Well first indeed what you say is true for investing in general: only invest money that you're ready to lose. That's the case for any investment, or you just put the cash under your mattress :) Joke aside, in China it was a complete chaos before the regulation, with a lot of fraudulent platforms that never actually invested in anything. What I can tell you for Europe is that all the platforms I invest in are run by great people (I now actually met many of them in person), and that more tight regulations are definitely coming. That one or two platforms will fail I can imagine (that's why always diversify), but we are in a completely different position as what was in China before the regulation.
Bogdan
a year ago
Mintos is one of my favorite platfom, but I would be interested to invest also in Crowdestate(it is interesting because they invest money in buildings). For the moment I'm saving money for an oportunity to invest in crowdfunding Etergo, when they will lunch new series of shares.(I don't have a news when will be the date exactly)
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Stephen
a year ago
I had looked into fast invest but they are not based in the UK. They have a post box in London and they currently don't allow investoes from the UK. I tried to cot act them via their online ticket system but they haven't replied in 2 days so I'm not impressed with them or their customer service.
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Marco Albertini
a year ago
I thank you for the excellent article. So do you suggest to subscribe to all 4 to diversify? in the meantime I will start with Mintos being the first time I use this system. thank you
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Marco Schwartz Marco Albertini
a year ago
Thanks! Indeed if you have at least let's say 100 Euros to put in each, I recommend investing in all of them. If not, indeed I'd start with Mintos.
Przemek
a year ago
Marco, you wrote that Fast Invest has been active for 3 years and also has been profitable - how do you know it? did you see financial statements?
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Marco Schwartz Przemek
a year ago
That's an information they gave me after talking to them and that they also shared publicly on their blog
Peter Ashby
a year ago
I'm new to P2P as I've been investing in Bondora for just over a year now and recently put a small amount into another Baltic state platform, Twino; as I'm currently considering another P2P investment and need to use the profits to supplement my income, this advice was great, thanks. I would like to see more directly ethical options in P2P platforms, however - for example, a very easy-to-use tool that identifies loans for ethically and environmentally sound projects. This will (or should!) become a growth area over the next few years and into the future.
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Michael
a year ago
Hi,
So I understand European p2p platforms such as Mintos are not open to U.S. citizens. But my question is can a European COMPANY invest in these p2p platforms if it is controlled by a U.S. citizen? The initial answer would be 'yes' but if you read the FAQ it says that personal documents are required from board members of a EU company. So would they deny opening an account once they realize that the owner is a U.S. citizen? I cannot find an answer to this question or get them to respond, so I am asking here.
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remy Michael
a year ago
European Companies dealing with US citizens have to be extra cautious because the FATCA rule in place. Therefore, this is the reason why many European financial businesses "refuse" green card holders or US citizens. the way you can go over it it to find a European partner which you can establish a passive foreign investment company with.
That implies
1) a trustable european partner.
2) this trustable physical person or moral entreprise to run your investment on your behalf.
3) one annual tax form sent to the IRS (form 8621) that you own the business.
4) this can be done with a E-residency from Estonia for instance.
Or I can help you out. I have a holding business in Norway called deep green Holding that has been doing crowdlending for the past years, I could help US resident wishing to establish here in Norway.
ED
a year ago
Can a US citizen invest in any of this five Peer-to-Peer European companies? Thank you
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Marco Schwartz ED
a year ago
Hi Ed, unfortunately, most of them are not opened for US investors, however, it seems that Fast Invest accepts US investors so I'd try my luck there. For sure I imagine this is something that would change in the future as platforms grow and expand internationally.
Marto
a year ago
Have you tried Investly?
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Marco Schwartz Marto
a year ago
Not yet, but it's on my list :)
Filip Marto
a year ago
Which one? There are at least two with the same name, different countries.
The investly.cz is company with limited capital only (7.800 EUR), without independent auditor, without annual reports! Investing in any company without independent auditor and annual reports means investing without transparency. In 99% cases is a scam.
Second company investly.co seems to be backed up by some private investors but again, no annual reports, no independent auditor.
I would be extremely careful invest in such companies. It is very easy to lost money on internet nowadays! Last year I lost 30% in one London company and 20% in one Czech company after they changed they agreement policies. I have learned that I will never again invest in companies without independent auditor and annual reports.
Boyan
2 years ago
I would also add Klear platform as my favorite to the list
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Mariya Boyan
2 years ago
For how long have you been using Klear, Boyan? I have my account for about a month, Put a very small amount to test it, steady for now
gomes Boyan
a year ago
Thanks to Mrgomes., I can finally smile again and give a loan of $ 52,000 has been granted to two of my colleagues have also received a loan without any difficulty with an interest rate of 2% per year. I advise you no longer on bad people, if you want a loan for the project or another need. I am making this announcement because Mr.gomes with this loan has helped a lot. Through a friend I met this honest and generous gentleman. You can write to him and he will work to your satisfaction. Here is your E-Mail:[email protected] 0r whatsapp on +1(786)-704-0759 Thanks
Gjergj Dino
2 years ago
Mintos is my interest..The lending value of the loan is 6000euro Thanks.
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Jorge
2 years ago
What is your opinion about Viainvest?
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Marco Schwartz Jorge
2 years ago
I am actually in the process of testing the platform, so expect a full review in September :)
Dovi
2 years ago
Great article, thanks. Personally, I am investing in Mintos and Bondora. I am in love with Bondora investors dashboard. Lately, I have registered to try Fast Invest platform. Any opinion on this?
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Marco Schwartz Dovi
2 years ago
Didn't try Fast Invest yet, but it's on my list :)
damian
2 years ago
Hi, i'm trying to register to receive information & the PDF checklist but get a blank page with server error message.
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João V.
2 years ago
What about Viventor, Mark? You had invested quite an amount in there.. Something made you change your opinion?
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Marco Schwartz João V.
2 years ago
Hi, indeed I slowly started to remove my investments from Viventor as the gains were not as expected (didn't loose any money however, it's just that the gains were too low). So I prefer to focus on the platforms I described in this post :)
Robin O'Grady
2 years ago
Hi Marco, you should look at linked finance based in Ireland. Business loans to the SME sector in Ireland, but they are expanding to UK soon. www.linkedfinance.com. I have been investing for 5 years+ with average return after defaults etc of 10.2%. Autoportfolio management and very good financial details of each company you are investing in available. Enjoy
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Josef Pavlica
2 years ago
You can invest on Bondora manually, but only on secondary market.
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Smells Value
2 years ago
Hi Marco, great website and good luck. I invest in Bondora (3 years), Lendy (1,5 years) and Zlty Melon (3 years). On Mintos will open account this year.
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Marco Schwartz Smells Value
2 years ago
Thanks! All the best for your investments :)
Tom Swift
2 years ago
After the fiasco with the bitcoin lending sites, I would be reluctant to try peer-to-peer lending again.
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Marco Schwartz Tom Swift
2 years ago
I think for the Bitcoin P2P lending sites the issues was that the majority of the borrowers were in countries were it was impossible for the platform to get the money back in case of default, so I think a lot of people used that to actually never pay back. With non-bitcoin P2P platforms it's much more regulated and also I always advise to use buyback guarantees when possible.
Vítězslav Válka
2 years ago
Thank you for summary. I've started on Bondora and since I've known your website, I expanded to Mintos and more recently Twino. Good luck!
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Marco Schwartz Vítězslav Válka
2 years ago
Thanks!
Honza Temr Vítězslav Válka
2 years ago
So do I, also thanks to your recommendations, Víťa ;) Good luck to all investors!
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Updated the article :)
Hi Roderik, basically in this article I only talk about Peer-to-Peer platforms focused on consumer loans, which is why Housers or Property Partner don't appear. You can actually find them on my other article: https://marcoschwartz.com/best-real-estate-crowdfunding-platforms
Hi Alfredo, in the case there is not enough money on your account to cover it they will block money on future earnings.
Hi, I believe many people lost money on Bondora by investing in high-yielding loans that all defaulted. I suggested, however, to use the platform by investing only in the best-rated loans, or via Go & Grow. With this approach, I believe Bondora is an excellent platform to invest on.
You're welcome!
Hi Bert, thanks for the comment! Well first indeed what you say is true for investing in general: only invest money that you're ready to lose. That's the case for any investment, or you just put the cash under your mattress :) Joke aside, in China it was a complete chaos before the regulation, with a lot of fraudulent platforms that never actually invested in anything. What I can tell you for Europe is that all the platforms I invest in are run by great people (I now actually met many of them in person), and that more tight regulations are definitely coming. That one or two platforms will fail I can imagine (that's why always diversify), but we are in a completely different position as what was in China before the regulation.
Thanks! Indeed if you have at least let's say 100 Euros to put in each, I recommend investing in all of them. If not, indeed I'd start with Mintos.
That's an information they gave me after talking to them and that they also shared publicly on their blog
Hi Ed, unfortunately, most of them are not opened for US investors, however, it seems that Fast Invest accepts US investors so I'd try my luck there. For sure I imagine this is something that would change in the future as platforms grow and expand internationally.
Not yet, but it's on my list :)