Viainvest is a European P2P lending platform that connects investors with borrowers seeking short-term consumer loans. The platform aims to provide investors with an easy and secure way to invest in consumer loans, offering attractive returns and a simple, user-friendly experience.

Launched in 2016 and based in Latvia, Viainvest is part of the VIA SMS Group, which operates in several European countries, including Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic. The group has been operating successfully since 2009, and this undoubtedly contributes to Viainvest’s trustworthiness.

Open a Viainvest account

Account Opening and Verification

One aspect of Viainvest that I found appealing was the ease of opening an account. The registration process is straightforward and can be completed within a few minutes. You simply need to provide some personal information, verify your identity, and link a bank account to start investing. This hassle-free process makes it convenient for new investors to join the platform and begin exploring the investment opportunities available.

User Interface and Experience

After my account was verified, I gained access to Viainvest’s platform dashboard. I found the user interface to be clean and easy to navigate, making it simple to manage my investments. The platform offers a seamless user experience, with clear navigation menus and quick access to essential features, such as the loan listings, portfolio overview, and transaction history.

Investment Options

Viainvest focuses on short-term consumer loans, which typically have a duration of 30 days or less. The loans are issued by VIA SMS Group’s lending subsidiaries, ensuring a transparent and easy-to-understand investment process. Most of the loans on Viainvest come with a buyback guarantee, which means that if a loan becomes more than 30 days overdue, the loan originator repurchases the loan from the investor, providing an additional layer of security.

Auto Invest Feature

To simplify the investment process, Viainvest offers an Auto Invest feature that automatically invests available funds according to my chosen criteria, such as loan duration, interest rate, and maximum investment per loan. This feature allowed me to save time and ensure that my funds were consistently invested without the need for manual intervention. Additionally, I could easily adjust my Auto Invest settings whenever I wanted to modify my investment strategy.

Returns and Risks

Viainvest advertises average annual returns of around 12%, which I found to be competitive within the P2P lending market. However, as with any investment, there are inherent risks involved. In the case of P2P lending, the primary risk is borrower default. Viainvest mitigates this risk through its buyback guarantee, which, as mentioned earlier, provides an additional layer of security for investors. It’s essential to keep in mind that the buyback guarantee is dependent on the financial stability of the loan originator, so it’s crucial to assess the overall creditworthiness of the platform and its affiliated lending companies.

Secondary Market and Liquidity

One aspect of Viainvest that I appreciated was the presence of a secondary market, allowing investors to buy and sell their loan investments before the loans reach maturity. This feature can be particularly helpful for those looking for increased liquidity or wanting to adjust their portfolio quickly. However, it’s essential to note that the secondary market’s liquidity depends on the demand from other investors, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to sell your loans immediately or at the desired price.

Transparency

One aspect of Viainvest that I appreciated is the platform’s transparency. Viainvest provides detailed information about each loan, including the loan originator, borrower’s credit score, and loan purpose. This level of detail enables investors to make informed decisions about their investments and helps build trust in the platform.

Moreover, Viainvest is transparent about its fees, which are relatively low compared to other P2P lending platforms. The platform does not charge investors any fees for using its services, which means that you can keep more of your earnings.

Loan Diversification

Although Viainvest primarily focuses on short-term consumer loans, I found that there’s still some room for diversification within the platform. Viainvest offers loans from different countries, such as Latvia, Poland, and Spain. By investing in loans from various countries, I was able to spread my risk geographically and reduce the potential impact of local economic fluctuations.

On the other hand, it’s worth noting that the platform’s focus on short-term consumer loans may limit the extent of diversification across different loan types and industries. If you’re looking for a broader range of investment options, you may want to consider alternative platforms that offer loans across various sectors.

Customer Support

Throughout my experience with Viainvest, I found their customer support to be responsive and helpful. Whenever I had a question or needed assistance, I could reach out to their support team via email or live chat. They were quick to respond and provided clear, concise answers to my queries.

Financial Performance and Growth

An important aspect to consider when evaluating an investment platform is its financial performance and growth. In the case of Viainvest, the platform has demonstrated consistent growth in both the number of investors and the volume of loans funded. This indicates a growing interest in the platform and a strong performance in the P2P lending market.

Furthermore, Viainvest is part of a profitable group, the VIA SMS Group, which has been financially stable since its inception. This stability further reinforces the platform’s reliability and attractiveness for investors seeking a secure investment environment.

Tax Reporting

Viainvest also simplifies the tax reporting process for its investors by providing an annual tax report. This report includes all the necessary information for investors to report their earnings to their respective tax authorities, making tax filing a less daunting task. The convenience of having this information readily available is a valuable benefit for many investors.

What I Like About Viainvest

1. User-friendly interface: Viainvest’s platform is easy to navigate and manage, making the investment process smooth and efficient.
2. Attractive returns: With average annual returns of around 12%, Viainvest offers competitive returns within the P2P lending market.
3. Buyback guarantee: Most loans on Viainvest come with a buyback guarantee, providing an additional layer of security for investors.
4. Auto Invest feature: The platform’s Auto Invest feature simplifies the investment process and allows for easy portfolio management.
5. Secondary market: The presence of a secondary market provides investors with increased liquidity and flexibility.

What Could be Improved at Viainvest

1. Limited diversification: Viainvest primarily focuses on short-term consumer loans, which may limit opportunities for diversification across different loan types and industries.
2. Dependency on loan originators: The buyback guarantee is dependent on the financial stability of the loan originators, which may pose a risk if the originator faces financial difficulties.
3. Currency risk: As Viainvest operates in multiple European countries, investors may be exposed to currency risk when investing in loans denominated in different currencies.

Alternative Platforms

For investors interested in comparing Viainvest with other P2P lending platforms, here are a few alternatives to consider:

1. Mintos: Mintos is a leading European P2P lending platform that offers a wide range of investment opportunities, including consumer, business, and real estate loans. With a large number of loan originators and a secondary market, Mintos provides an opportunity for increased diversification and liquidity.
2. PeerBerry: PeerBerry is another popular P2P lending platform in Europe that focuses on short-term consumer loans. The platform offers competitive returns, a buyback guarantee, and an Auto Invest feature.
3. Bondora: Bondora is an established P2P lending platform that provides investors with various investment options, including consumer loans and a unique “Go & Grow” feature that allows for simple, low-risk investing with instant liquidity.
4. Estateguru: For investors looking to diversify into real estate-backed loans, Estateguru is a solid option. The platform offers secured loans with attractive returns and a user-friendly interface.

Conclusion

Taking into account the stability and longevity of Viainvest as part of the VIA SMS Group, the platform’s transparency, and the opportunity for some level of diversification, my experience with Viainvest has been overall positive. While there are some limitations in terms of diversification and dependency on loan originators, Viainvest remains an attractive option for investors looking to explore P2P lending. If you’re considering investing in P2P lending platforms, Viainvest is a solid choice with competitive returns and an easy-to-use interface.

Open a Viainvest account

Sign up to Esketit

If you’ve been exploring opportunities in the consumer loan space and are curious about the Esketit platform, then you’re in the right place.

Esketit is a fintech company that’s been generating some buzz in the consumer loan market. Their focus is on providing transparent and accessible financing solutions to borrowers, but they also offer a unique opportunity for investors like us to participate in this growing industry. As someone who’s always keen on exploring new investment opportunities, I found their approach quite intriguing.

Esketit was founded in December 2020 by Davis Barons and Matiss Ansviesulis, and the company is registered in Ireland. Davis and Matiss also established the highly successful Latvia-based SIACreamfinance Group, an international non-bank lender in the consumer loans sector, in which they also hold the same stakes. Since its inception in 2012, Creamfinance has been consistently profitable, generating an impressive revenue of 70 million in 2019.

Affiliated loan originators issue the loans on Esketit, ensuring transparency and easy oversight throughout the entire process. Davis and Matiss adopt a ‘skin in the game’ strategy, which gives investors greater confidence in the Esketit Platform.

Investing in personal loans through the Esketit Platform is simple and secure. With operations across five diverse markets, Esketit provides investors with access to a global landscape. By joining Esketit, you can benefit from top-tier practices in the P2P lending industry and enjoy high returns without compromising security.

Invest on Esketit

The Investment Process

The Esketit platform streamlines the process of investing in consumer loans. To start, you’ll need to create an account and complete the necessary verification steps. Once you’re all set, you can browse the available loans on the platform, assess the risk levels and potential returns, and decide which loans to invest in.

What I appreciate about Esketit is the detailed information they provide about each loan, such as the borrower’s credit score, loan purpose, and repayment history. This transparency allows investors like us to make informed decisions and effectively manage the risk-reward balance.

Both individuals and corporate entities can invest in Esketit, and both will need to pass a straightforward KYC process, as is customary with all P2P lending platforms that are regulated.

Founders’ Skin in the Game

The founders of Esketit, Davis Barons and Matiss Ansviesulis, follow a “skin in the game” approach. This means that they invest their own money alongside the investors on the platform. By co-investing, the founders demonstrate their confidence in the platform’s performance and align their interests with those of other investors. This approach adds a layer of assurance for investors using the Esketit platform, as the founders have a personal stake in ensuring the platform’s success and the quality of the investment opportunities offered.

Team Competencies

As noted, Davis and Matiss have achieved a lot of success and bring a lot of value to Esketit.

Since April 2021, Vitalijs Zalovs from Latvia has been serving as the CEO of the Esketit platform.

Vitalijs is a recognized figure in the sector. He previously dedicated six years to the Latvian P2P marketplace, Mintos, in the role of Head of Investor Relations. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Vitalijs and corresponding with him many times while he was at Mintos, as well as in his current role at Esketit. I only have good words to say.

Diversification Opportunities

One key aspect of successful investing is diversification, and Esketit doesn’t disappoint in this regard. The platform offers a wide variety of consumer loans, including personal loans, auto loans, and home improvement loans, among others. This variety allows investors to build a diversified portfolio and spread their risk across different loan types and borrowers.

Auto-Invest Feature

Esketit’s auto-invest feature is something I find particularly appealing. This tool allows you to set specific investment criteria and automatically allocate funds to loans that match your preferences. It’s a real time-saver for busy investors like me who want to maintain a diversified portfolio without having to constantly monitor and manually invest in individual loans.

Returns and Risk Management

Esketit offers competitive returns compared to traditional investment options, with annualized yields typically ranging from 5% to 15%, depending on the risk profile of the loans you choose to invest in. Of course, higher returns come with higher risks, so it’s essential to be diligent in your loan selection process and employ proper risk management techniques.

To help mitigate risk, Esketit employs strict underwriting standards and performs thorough due diligence on all borrowers. Additionally, the platform offers a secondary market where you can sell your investments before the loan term ends, providing liquidity in case you need to exit your investment early.

Esketit are completely transparent about their numbers and publish them monthly on their statistics page.

Customer Support

From my experience, Esketit’s customer support has been responsive and helpful. They offer multiple channels for communication, including email, phone, and live chat. This level of support is comforting, as it ensures that any questions or concerns you may have as an investor are addressed promptly.

Some Drawbacks to Consider

No investment platform is perfect, and Esketit has its drawbacks as well. One thing to keep in mind is that investing in consumer loans involves a certain level of risk, and there’s always the possibility of borrowers defaulting on their loans. It’s essential to be aware of these risks and manage your investment strategy accordingly.

Additionally, the platform is relatively new, so it’s yet to establish a long track record. While the early results seem promising, it’s important to approach such investments with caution and stay up-to-date with any developments that could impact the platform’s performance.

Alternatives to Esketit

Esketit faces competition from several other prominent platforms in the European P2P lending and investment industry.

• Mintos, a well-established player in the market, offers a wide range of investment opportunities in loans issued by various loan originators.
• Bondora, another competitor, has been operating since 2009, providing access to consumer loans from multiple European countries.
• PeerBerry, a relatively newer platform, focuses on short-term consumer loans with a buyback guarantee, catering to investors seeking lower-risk investment options. Each of these platforms has its unique selling points, such as the range of loan types, geographical diversification, and risk management features. Investors should carefully consider their specific needs and preferences when choosing a platform to diversify their portfolios in the growing P2P lending space.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I find Esketit to be an interesting investment opportunity in the consumer loan space. The platform offers a streamlined process, detailed loan information, and attractive diversification opportunities. The auto-invest feature and competitive returns make it an appealing option for investors seeking exposure to this growing market.

I like the platform’s design and ease-of-use, that’s definitely something that is important for such a platform, especially if an investor is new to P2P lending and is trying to learn the ropes.

Withdrawing money is fast and reliable, as are deposits, so you can put your money to work with no hassle.

Finally, the buyback is an extra measure of safety, although this is not unique to Esketit.

That being said, it’s crucial to remember that investing in consumer loans comes with inherent risks, and the platform’s relatively short track record means that caution is warranted. As with any investment, it’s essential to do your own research, employ proper risk management techniques, and ensure that your investments align with your overall financial goals and risk tolerance.

If you’re an investor looking for an alternative investment opportunity in the consumer loan market, Esketit is worth considering. The platform offers various features that cater to different investment styles and preferences. As always, be sure to carefully assess the risks and weigh them against the potential rewards before diving in.

If you consider investing on Esketit, a sign up through this link will enable you to get an unlimited cashback bonus of 0,5% in the first 90 days after registration.

Invest on Esketit

Invest with Twino

Twino was one of the first platforms that I invested in when I got started with P2P lending. They’re one of the earliest companies in the space and as such deserve respect and a closer look, as many other companies are little more than a couple of years old.

I’ve been able to obtain returns of 9.21% on this platform, with no defaults whatsoever during the years I’ve been investing with them. Granted, the returns are not spectacular, but they’re always much better than the returns on money left in the bank, and this is a platform that has never given me any headaches.

The company started operations in 2009 (web platform as we know it launched in 2015) in Latvia and has originated over EUR 1 billion in unsecured consumer loans since then. Like Mintos and Peerberry, it offers European investors investment opportunities in unsecured European consumer loans.

It says it has nearly 22,000 investors from over 30 European countries. Twino has also disclosed that it has also issued loans to the value of €1bn (£860m), since it was set up 10 years ago, half of the value of which have been issued in the past three years. Twino Group employs on average 543 employees across its various offices.

Although I was a big investor on Twino earlier on, over the last couple of years, I’ve reduced my allocation on this platform in favor of other platforms like Mintos which I felt had better management and a faster growth trajectory. However, in 2020 Twino seem to be back on the rise and have implemented almost all the items that I felt had been missing, including a blog, website revamp, and more investment opportunities.

So is Twino worth investing in as part of a diversified portfolio in 2020?

How does Twino Work?

Twino works in a similar way to other P2P lending platforms, linking consumers who need loans with investors in the European Economic Area countries who are ready to lend money to them. You can learn more about how P2P lending works on my dedicated page.

You can, of course, use the auto-invest facility that Twino provides in order to automate your investment and not have to invest in loans manually. You can thus spread your money invested across hundreds or thousands of loans making sure you ware well-diversified geographically.

There are absolutely no fees for investors, and the nice thing for UK residents is that you can invest in Euro as well as GBP.

There are three types of loan types on offer:

Buyback – TWINO will buy back loan (principal amount and interest for investment period) from investor, if it is 60 or more days delinquent.

Payment Guarantee – TWINO will compensate both the invested principal amount and interest according to the loan repayment schedule for the whole loan period, even if the borrower is late with the repayment.

Ventures – Loan is secured and backed by collateral which comes in such forms as a pledge (share, commercial), mortgage and/or guarantees.

I personally stick to BuyBack guaranteed loans, but Ventures (a new addition on Twino) also looks interesting. More on that below.

Getting Started on Twino

Opening up an account on Twino is easy and takes less than 5 minutes. You will need to create a username and password as well as verify your identity.

To invest on the platform, you must also be at least 18 years old.

Once the initial standard procedure is done, you can access the platform and browse the loans available. You will then need to deposit money into your Twino account via a bank transfer (I use N26, Revolut or TransferWise to avoid fees).

Note that the currency of your first deposit will be used for all future activities in your account. If, for example, you first deposit money in GBP, then that currency will be the default for your Twino account.

You can also open a company account if you’re investing through a company. You will need to submit a few extra documents in this case.

The money will take a couple of days to arrive if using a SEPA transfer, and the same delay happens when withdrawing money. There are no fees for depositing or withdrawing.

Once you have the money, you can go ahead and start investing. Most investors opt to do so by setting up an auto-invest strategy.

Auto-Invest Strategies on Twino

The most hands-off approach to investing on Twino is to use an auto-invest strategy. As you can see in the screenshot below, you can set various parameters for each strategy (you can have multiple different strategies).

As you start filling in the parameters, the system will automatically calculate how many loans match your criteria. This will give you an indication of the strategy’s likelihood to achieve your investment goal. For example, if I have a goal of 20,000 euro for a strategy, but limit it to interest rates between 35-40% and a term of 2 months, I will probably not encounter a single loan available, as those parameters are by far too optimistic. 

The best idea is to play around with the parameters until you find something that fits your goals. Every investor has his own risk tolerance and time frames so it doesn’t make sense to copy someone else’s strategy.

If you have no idea where to start from, try selecting BuyBack loans, limit the investment per loan to €25 and interest rate between 10 and 15%. You can then tweak things from there.

Twino Ventures

In 2020 Twino has launched Twino Ventures – secured investments in real estate, with the first project being a residential renovation project in Riga, Latvia.

These are loans that are backed by collateral in the form of commercial pledge, share pledge or mortgage.

The returns are fixed and are projected to be up to 12% per annum. All loans available are pre-screened by Mintos, who do the required due diligence before publishing them on the platforms. This does not mean that investors should invest blindly, however.

I think this is an interesting area for expansion for Twino and I’m interested to see how it goes for them.

Who Invests on Twino?

UK investors are responsible for 12% of TWINO’s investments, the second largest proportion only after Germany (33%).

Investors have already earned more than EUR 10m in interest and earn on average a market-leading return of more than 10% per annum.

Website

Twino’s website is very clean and straight to the point.

The Statistics page shows the main numbers investors look out for in a neatly presented fashion, and all other information is easy to find.

The investment interface when you are logged in works pretty well and everything is presented clearly.

Transparency

I would argue that Twino is quite transparent. You can easily find out who the top management at the company is by venturing to the Twino About page.

All financial statements up till 2018 are also easily available, as are general stats on loan performance.

Platform Profitability

As investors, we need to keep a close eye on the profitability of not only loan originators but also the platforms we invest in. In February 2019, Twino published consolidated results for 2017 and non-consolidated results to Sept 2018.

The results were not very good, with very large losses in 2017 and a negative equity position as of Sep 2018. In fact, their auditors raised ‘going concern’ risks, which means that they are of the opinion that there is a real risk that Twino will go belly up in the near future if things don’t improve.

In November 2019, Twino released its consolidated financial statement for 2018, which show an impressive turnaround in the company’s finances.

In fact, the company now reports pre-tax profits of €13m for 2018, compared to a €7.2m loss the year previous.

During 2018, Twino attracted 4,621 new investors that together with the existing client base of 11,604 acquired claims totaling EUR 199 million with an average annual yield above 10.9%.

The Twino Group’s non-bank lending companies issued loans amounting to EUR 183 million, of which 73% were issued in Russia, 9% – in Georgia, 7% – in Kazakhstan, 6% – in Poland and, 5% – in Latvia.

Customer Care

I’ve interacted various times with their customer care agents over Skype, and they were able to attend to all my queries in an efficient and well-articulated manner. I give them thumbs up on their support quality.

I would love to see a live chat integrated into the Twino website, however. That would be even easier than contacting over Skype. Phone numbers are available for various countries and you can also reach customer care over email.

Reports

One aspect where Mintos stands head and shoulders above many other platforms is in their reporting section. You can easily generate an income statement for the past year and also balances at the end of the previous year.

The PDF generated is comprehensive and contains all the information your accountant will need for tax purposes. It contains all the information necessary irrespective of whether you are investing as an individual or as a company.

Loan Portfolio and Interest Rates

In the early days, Twino used to provide excellent rates of return, rivaling those of other big platforms at the time like Mintos and Bondora. However, over time, Twino seems to have struggled to maintain a good inflow of loans with good interest rates. You should expect around 10% for 1-3 month loans at the moment from them, which is not spectacular. In 2020 things have started picking up, however, so I’m optimistic going forward.

Twino is contemplating expansion into the Asian market and also planning lending to real-estate and development projects. Currently, it has a presence in a number of European countries including Latvia, Poland, Russia, Georgia and Kazakhstan.

Their biggest presence is currently in Russia, although they previously were very heavy on Georgian loans. Concentrating on Russia has its own risks, but it seems to have given Mintos another shot at longevity after some worrying results in 2017.

Twino implements a buyback guarantee to cover investors against losses, which is protected by its parent group Twino Group.

TWINO issues loans via subsidiaries in Poland, Russia, Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Denmark, and Spain. Investors come from all over Europe with the UK accounting for the second-largest share of investment at 12%, according to the company. Germany is the largest market with 33% of the investing.

Loan Volume

Here are the statistics on loan volume from the month of March 2020:

Loans listed from 01.03.2020 to 01.04.2020 Short-Term Loans | BuyBack Guarantee Country Term Rate (%) Volume PL 1-2 10 €2,319,103 PL 1-2 12 €2,941,859 RU 1-2 10 €5,074,845 RU 1-2 14 *(CE) €1,068,247 RU 1-2 14 €1,610,461 RU 1-2 16 *(CE) €427,888 KZ 1-2 12 €370,226 KZ 1-2 14 *(CE) €150,857

Installment Loans | Payment Guarantee Country Term Rate (%) Volume LV 3-12 8 €99,761 LV 3-12 10 €39,476 LV 13-60 8 €493,122 LV 13-60 10 €90,300 PL 1-2 10 €1,439 PL 3-12 10 €33,252 PL 13-60 10 €59,037

As you can note, the volume for short-term loans with a buyback guarantee is much higher than that of installment loans with a payment guarantee. The rates of return are also significantly higher.

Team

Twino was founded by Armands Broks, who is also the 100% shareholder of the company. The managing director is Anastasija Oleinika, who replaced Broks in November 2019 as CEO. Both are Latvians.

Armands Broks will now focus on new business opportunities and bringing talent on board.

At the time of the change in leadership, Broks and Oleinika both had some things to say:

Broks said: “We’re delighted to have Anastasija leading the team at this important time in the company’s growth. We’re currently working on a number of new business developments and are evaluating opportunities in new markets, most notably Asia in the next year.”

Oleinika said: “Reaching the €1bn milestone is significant for us, and is reflective of the business’ continued growth and expansion. The restructuring process we started in 2017 has brought the expected results in a very short time, and our financial results are testament to this.

Oleinika has worked at Twino for nearly three years, managing its finance and business operations. She has also managed Twino’s operations in Russia.

It seems that this is a good move for Twino; I don’t really have any concerns about the Twino team as it stands today, they seem to be genuine people working hard to expand the platform.

Alternatives to Twino

I consider Twino to be an honest platform and worth using for a diversified P2P lending portfolio. Some other good options to consider as an alternative or an addition to Twino would be:

• Mintos – read my Mintos review
• Peerberry – read my Peerberry review
• Swaper – read my Swaper review

I think diversifying across 3-4 P2P lending platforms is ideal. Having more platforms makes it a hassle to manage everything – unless you have a lot of money to invest and investing is part of what you do on a day-to-day basis.