lendermarket review 2021

Update (2023): I’ve started withdrawing from Lendermarket in January 2023, since Creditstar has been having liquidity issues for a while (started with not repaying pending payments to Mintos investors on time). Right now, withdrawals are also taking way too long (the last one took 20 days!).

For me, Lendermarket is not worth the risk right now until things go back to normal.

Instead, I would take a look at one of my current Top 3 P2P lending platforms in 2023.

You can still find my unchanged original review below, including my thoughts before Creditstar started having liquidity issues, as I’m currently a bit short on time to edit it all. Still, I made sure to redirect all my Lendermarket links here until the situation is resolved and things (hopefully) go back to normal on the platform!


Here is my Lendermarket review, based on my own experience investing on the P2P platform since 2019.

As usual, I’m going to be fully transparent about the amount I invested and my experience so far on Lendermarket.

The post also includes some questions I asked the platform. So whenever you see quotes throughout the review, that’s Omayra Roig, the previous business manager at Lendermarket, answering my question.

I hope you’ll find her answers useful as well.

Please remember that none of this is financial advice, just my personal opinion as an investor. So always do your own research as well!

Lendermarket – P2P Platform backed by Creditstar

Lendermarket was launched by one of my favorite loan originators on Mintos, Creditstar, in cooperation with an external team to manage the P2P platform.

As a result, the platform almost exclusively offers loans originated by Creditstar’s own lending companies. I don’t see that as a bad thing though.

The Creditstar Group itself was founded in 2006 and has been offering financial services (loans) ever since. It currently operates in 8 countries all over Europe and has been profitable for over 8 years.

According to its latest financial statement for 2021 (audited by KPMG), Creditstar generated a net profit of 5,4 million euros in 2021.

creditstar countries at a glance

Creditstar has its business headquarters in Tallin (Estonia), in addition to offices in each country where they offer their financial services.

The Lendermarket platform itself is based in Ireland. I like having a bit more diversification as far as where platforms are based, that way I’m less affected by regulatory changes in one country (eg. Latvia or Estonia).

Why did you choose Ireland for Lendermarket?

Ireland met the regulative criteria that the business development team established while working through various countries. And additionally, what was very important to us – an English speaking environment. As our working language is English within the company, then we preferred to establish the business in the country, where we’ll be able to interact with the regulator directly in English. Ultimately the choice of establishing the business in Ireland came down to multiple deciding criteria.

Up to 16% Interest and a Buyback Guarantee

Lendermarket offers short-term and long-term personal loans from SpainFinlandThe Czech RepublicEstoniaPoland, Sweden and Denmark.

lendermarket loans august 2022
Note: Term (loan duration) is displayed in days.

Not only that, you can now invest into real-estate backed loans by Credory, a lending company that’s not part of Creditstar as well. However, these only pay 8-9% interest per year and the lending company has a much shorter track record, so I excluded Credory from my own auto invest and I’ll be focusing on the other loan offerings in this review.

Meanwhile, the Creditstar loans on Lendermarket come with an interest rate of 12-16% per year and a 60-day buyback guarantee. More on that later.

Why was Lendermarket created instead of offering more loans on Mintos?

The reason is very simple. We wanted to diversify Creditstar’s funding. Adding another source of investment helps maintain the stability of the Group.

What’s the advantage for an investor to invest in Credistar loans on Lendermarket vs. Mintos?

– Platform risk/exposure from the investors’ side – also good for diversification
– Currently, Lendermarket focuses only on loans originated by Creditstar’s operating entities, while Mintos has lots of originators. We’d like to think that we can provide better Investor Support and communications via Lendermarket, by being more focused on a single partner.
– The loans have a shorter term, which is highly appreciated by investors and higher interest.

The 60-day Buyback Guarantee

All Creditstar loans on Lendermarket come with a 60-day buyback guarantee by the Creditstar Group. If a loan payment is more than 60 days late, investors receive back all outstanding principal, plus accrued interest and late payment fees.

Still, what if…

Even with a buyback guarantee and solid financial statements by the Creditstar Group, I always like to ask this question:

What would happen in a worst-case scenario, in case of bankruptcy of Lendermarket or going one step further, of the Credistar Group? Would investors still have the claim to the loans and what would be the course of action in that case?

Regarding the theoretical circumstance of us having to shut down: For this matter, the Department of Justice and Equality of Ireland has in October 2018 granted an authorization to Lendermarket Limited to operate as a “Trust or Company Service Provider” in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Acts) 2010 and 2013. With a case reference of TCSP APP/1224/2018. According to the provisions, we hold our Investors’ funds in a trust account that will not be subordinated as assets in a bankruptcy.

Furthermore, according to the platform’s legal conditions, the Loan Originators will be obliged to make repayments directly to Investors, in case Lendermarket as a platform would cease to exist.

The default scenario of Creditstar Group in the foreseeable future is highly unlikely. However, if that were to somehow happen in theory, then yes, investors will still have claims to the loans that they invested in. In case of Creditstar Group’s default, there would still be a mechanism for Creditstar’s borrowers to repay for their obligations. And as the particular loans that Lendermarker’s investors invest into are pledged via Lendermarket to the investor, the flow of funds would be similar as in case of a regular business scenario.

What Needs to be Improved

While I’ve been highly satisfied with my experience as an investor on Lendermarket (more on that later), I do have two criticisms:

1. Secondary Market

Sadly, Lendermarket doesn’t have a secondary market yet. Thus, we’re currently unable to sell loans before the end of the loan term (eg. in case of an emergency).

There is good news on this front though: According to Endrik Eller, the head of Lendermarket, they’re planning to add a secondary market to the platform by the end of 2022.

2. Account Overview

The account summary could be improved. I’d like to easily see how much I currently have invested in loans from each country in form of a graph, to more easily diversify my investments. Right now, I’m only able to see every loan individually under My Investments on Lendermarket.

My Lendermarket Experience

lendermarket september 2022
My account balance on June 1st, 2022

I added Lendermarket to my P2P portfolio on November 21st, 2019. As of October 1st, 2022, I have an account balance of 3.163€ and earned a total of 1.199€ so far on my money.

Note: My earnings also include 1% cashback I received on my investments after my first 60 days on the platform (screenshot). You can get the same bonus when signing up via this link.

According to Portfolio Performance, Lendermarket is currently the best performing platform in my p2p portfolio, with an internal rate of return of 14,58% p.a.

You can find my exact monthly earnings in my regular income updates.

My Auto Invest Settings (2022)

Here’s how my Auto Invest is set up right now on Lendermarket:

lendermarket auto invest settings april 2022

In case you’re wondering why I set the duration to 12 months maximum, that’s because I already have a large number of long-term loans from Estonia in my account and I want to make sure my portfolio is somewhat balanced.

I also have many short-term loans from Spain and Poland in my investments already, so they’re only bought by my second auto invest if other loans are not available.

This is what my first auto invest looks like in more detail:

lendermarket autoinvest settings april 2022
The first of my two auto invests

Make sure the Total amount of investment is set higher than your deposit if you want the platform to automatically reinvest the interest payments you receive. I chose 75€ as Maximum investment per single loan. The minimum investment per loan is 10€.

Next, tick the box next to Reinvesting if you want the autoinvest to reinvest for you and enter the minimum interest rate (I set mine at 14% per year).

The remaining term is completely up to you, I set mine to a max. of 12 months, since I already have plenty of long-term (>3 years) loans from Estonia in my account. I like having a mix of all durations.

It’s likely enough to just create a single auto invest for all countries and durations. But, if you want a bit more control over how your money is spread out, then I recommend creating several ones like I did.

Conclusion

As I mentioned, I’ve been very happy with my experience on Lendermarket after almost three years as an investor. It is currently my best performing investment in P2P lending.

The platform enables me to invest into Creditstar loans at the highest available interest rate. Creditstar has long been one of my favorite loan originators on Mintos. Here is why:

  • They were founded in 2006 and have made it through the financial crisis
  • They are active in 8 countries all over Europe, providing some regional diversification
  • They are transparent and share all of their audited financial statements
  • The Creditstar Group has been profitable for over 8 years, which is important for the buyback obligation after 60 days, including outstanding interest for the entire period.

I also appreciate that the Auto Invest is reliable and as a result, I don’t have to spend any more time on my investment on the platform after setting it up once in the beginning. That’s something I’ve really come to value, as I already spend way too much time tracking all of my investments.

That being said, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns here either. Compared to many other large platforms, there is currently no secondary market, so you should be willing to hold your investments until the end of the loan term (which I am).

How has your experience been on Lendermarket? Do you agree/disagree with my review?

2023 Update (Important!)

I’ve started withdrawing from Lendermarket in January 2023, since Creditstar has been having liquidity issues for a while (started with not repaying pending payments to Mintos investors on time). Right now, withdrawals are also taking way too long (the last one took 20 days!).

For me, Lendermarket is not worth the risk right now until things go back to normal.

Instead, I would take a look at one of my current Top 3 P2P lending platforms in 2023.

I left my original review above for now, including my thoughts before Creditstar started having liquidity issues, as I’m currently a bit short on time to edit it all. Still, I redirected all my Lendermarket links here until the situation is resolved and things (hopefully) go back to normal on the platform!

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24 Comments

  1. What about grace period and interest on delayed loans? I see in the summary “delayed interest” but is it the same rate?

  2. Hey Angelo, i would like to invite someone but i can’t find my referral code. How did tou get yours? Target circle?

    1. Hi Marco,
      yes, that seems to be the only way for now. I don’t think they have another invite program directly via the Lendermarket platform yet.

  3. Hola, me gustaría empezar con 100 euros y cada mes ir ingresando más, estoy entre Mintos y Lendermarket, siempre a 1 o 2 meses de plazo. Cual me aconsejais? O hay otra plataforma mejor para corto plazo? Lendermarket envía información fiscal o ya está en el perfil o cuenta? Gracias

    1. Hi Eduardo, for short-term loans of less than 30 days I think Lendermarket is the better option. But as long as you diversify your short-term loans on Mintos, you could try them as well.

      You can get a summary of all interest you earned over a year in the account and use that for your tax returns next year. By then, I’m sure Lendermarket will have made that part better and more intuitive as well.

  4. Hi Marco, I have been following your lead on a few of the p2p sites. lendermarket seems like a good fit, but… I live in Ireland and it is not an option in any of the dropdown boxes and critically not an option for id /passport verification despite the outsourced company for id verification having just verified me on another site. I have written to lendermarket and am very interested to here from a fellow resident of Ireland why I cannot join! Thought you should know.
    Thanks, Don

    1. Hi Don, this is Angelo 😉 My uncle in Italy is called Marco though, so you’re not too far off!

      It seems to be because of regulatory reasons, since Lendermarket is incorporated in Ireland. Have you received a response?

    1. Hi Peter, I just checked but it doesn’t seem like that option exists yet.

      Send them a message about it, maybe there is something I’m missing. Hopefully they’ll add it to a future update if it’s not implemented yet.

  5. No it doesn’t allow a non-EU investor. It asks for country of residence on registration and also a mobile phone number. I have the residence of the UK as well but not the mobile number.Is there any legal way to go around this?

  6. Hi Angelo, I am so sorry for getting your name wrong. I must have been so annoyed that I was distracted. Yes I received a reply but no change in status. Their Lawyers advised them that they would have to withhold tax on Irish residents. I invest in 2 other Irish based sites who’s clients are all within the Rep. of Ireland and they do not withhold tax. Neither was it an issue for Grupeer which is also has an office/admin in Ireland. I’m annoyed because your review really peeked my interest (pun).
    I very much enjoy and value you insights/blog, sorry again for my “not checking what I wrote”
    Regards, Don

    1. No worries Don, it’s no big deal! 🙂
      Thank you for the update. I’m sorry to hear that they have issues with Irish residents, I hope they will find a solution soon.

  7. Hi Angelo, I have not seen you mention anything about the supply of loans on Lendermarket platform. Do you experience any significant cash drag?
    Thanks for your interesting and informative articles.

  8. Hello Angelo,
    I always read your reviews and see your videos with interest, thank you for all your work and sharing all your good advice with us.
    About Lendermarket I have a question : would you know if finally Lendermarket has provided an audit for 2020 and if it has been done with a reputable company ?
    Thks

  9. Hello, since December 2022 I have investments in Lendermarket. Now I have to change my current bank account. How can I change it in my profile?

    1. Hi Neli, I hope you don’t mind I translated your comment from Bulgarian.

      Lendermarket only allows you to withdraw to accounts that you have made deposits from for security reasons – so you need to first make a small deposit from your new bank account. After that it will show up as an option for withdrawals.

  10. Hi, on your last portfolio update, I see that you are leaving Lendermarket. Can you explain why?
    I actually invested 10k€ few weeks ago 😅

    1. I’ve started withdrawing from Lendermarket in January, since Creditstar has been having liquidity issues for a while (started with not repaying pending payments to Mintos investors on time). Right now withdrawals are also taking way too long (last one took 20 days!). For me they’re not worth the risk right now until things go back to normal.

  11. Looks like Lendermarket (and Creditstar) are facing huge liquidity problems. All of my investments there are in debt. After they introduced “pending payments”, all of the money I should receive goes there. At the moment 25% of my account value is stucked there for more than one month – I can’t use this money not for for re-investing nor for withdrawl.
    I am on Lendermarket for more than 3 years ago but because of the situation during last 3 months I exit. For me there is also very big lack of transparency.