Germany

Crosslend Launches New P2P Lending Marketplace

wiseclerk

Today, new p2p lending marketplace Crosslend launched offering unsecured loans to consumers. Opening to borrowers and investors in Germany and Spain as well as investors in the UK, Crosslend aims for further European expansion and creating a unified European marketplace.

The Berlin headquartered startup was founded by Oliver Schimek and Daniel Schlotter (both had previous FinTech experience at Kreditech) and Marie Louise Seelig (formerly Skrill). Crosslend already raised a funding round prelaunch from Lakestar, Atlantic Internet and others.

crosslend-markets
Markets targeted by Crosslend

When a loan is granted it is purchased and acquired by Luxembourg based Crosslend Securities SA and securitized by a series of ‘notes’. Notes are debt securities which can be purchased by investors. A series of notes is made up of a number of notes, each with a denomination of 25 EUR. The total nominal value of a series of notes is equivalent to the amount of the loan. When a borrower makes their loan repayments, CrossLend Securities SA makes the corresponding payments of interest and principal pro rata to the holders of the notes.
This will enable Crosslend to offer a secondary market, which is due to be launched in a few months.

Crosslend Notes

Borrowers can apply for loans from 1,500 to 30,000 Euro for loan terms from 6 to 60. Crosslend will grade loans in risk classes A to G, HR. Interest rates (APRs range from about 3.5% to about 17%) and borrower fees are dependent on the assigned risk classes. Crosslend checks submitted proofs of income for all loan applications.

To invest lenders first open an account with biw Bank, the partner bank of Crosslend, this involves a short video verification process of the investor’s identity (webcam required). Video verification is an innovative account opening process which several German online banks started to use to replace the identification via postal communication.
Investors then deposit money into their account (250 Euro minimum). Then investors can choose which loans they want to invest into (25 EUR minimum bid per loan). Crosslend charges investors a 1% fee at origination.

UK investors should consider using Transferwise or Currencyfair to exchange money into Euro to avoid possible bank fees and a bad exchange rate applied by the bank. Continue reading →

International P2P Lending – Loan Volumes August 2015

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The following table lists the loan originations for August. August was a slow month for many of the listed services probably due to the holiday season. Zopa crossed 1 billion GBP lent since inception (see infographic) and Giles Andrews stated he expects the next billion to be lent in 2016. I do monitor development of p2p lending figures for many markets. Since I already have most of the data on file I can publish statistics on the monthly loan originations for selected p2p lending services.
Investors living in markets with no or limited choice of local p2p lending services can check this list of marketplaces open to international investors.
P2P Lending Volume 08/2015
Table: P2P Lending Volumes in August 2015. Source: own research
Note that volumes have been converted from local currency to Euro for the sake of comparison. Some figures are estimates/approximations.
*Prosper and Lending Club no longer publish origination data for the most recent month.
Notice to p2p lending services not listed: Continue reading →

Zencap Secures 230 Million EUR from Victory Park Capital

wiseclerk

Zencap logoZencap  will receive 230M EUR in investments from Victory Park Capital over a three year period, under an exclusive agreement. Vivtory Park Capital, an asset management firm focused on middle market debt and equity investments, will invest the amount into SME loans originated on the p2p lending marketplace Zencap. The partners are teaming up to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany, Netherlands and Spain with efficient, fast and easy access to capital. Zencap allows SMEs to apply for loans between 5.000 and 250.000 EUR.

Under the terms of the preferred partnership agreement, VPC will be the largest institutional investor on the P2P platform and has secured a credit facility from a leading global bank to leverage Zencap loans at favorable rates. The transaction represents the largest commitment to an online lending platform in Continental Europe and underlines the increasing importance of the sector.

“We are impressed with the Zencap team’s ability to execute an ambitious strategy, and their results in the three countries they operate in give us confidence that this emerging platform is serving a critical market need,” said Gordon Watson, principal at Victory Park Capital. “With this additional lending facility, Zencap will be well positioned to continue to achieve substantial growth over the near term and firmly establish itself as a market leader in Continental Europe.”

Matthias Knecht, co-founder and managing director of Zencap, added, ‘We are excited to announce this long-term, strategic partnership with VPC, the leading investor in the industry. This groundbreaking transaction will help to further accelerate our growth and support us in our mission to provide fast and seamless access to capital for small businesses in Europe.’

International P2P Lending – Loan Volumes July 2015

wiseclerk
The following table lists the loan originations for July. Zopa originated 52M GBP and takes the lead for that month in Europe. Prosper reached 4 billion US$ in loan origination since inception. I do monitor development of p2p lending figures for many markets. Since I already have most of the data on file I can publish statistics on the monthly loan originations for selected p2p lending services.
Investors living in markets with no or limited choice of local p2p lending services can check this list of marketplaces open to international investors.
International P2P Lending Volume 07 / 2015
Table: P2P Lending Volumes in July 2015. Source: own research
Note that volumes have been converted from local currency to Euro for the sake of comparison. Some figures are estimates/approximations.
*Prosper and Lending Club no longer publish origination data for the most recent month.
Notice to p2p lending services not listed: Continue reading →

International P2P Lending Services – Loan Volumes June 2015

wiseclerk
The following table lists the loan originations for June. Most p2p lending services grew in June. I do monitor development of p2p lending figures for many markets. Since I already have most of the data on file I can publish statistics on the monthly loan originations for selected p2p lending services.
Investors living in markets with no or limited choice of local p2p lending services can check this list of marketplaces open to international investors.
P2P Lending Volume 06/2015
Table: P2P Lending Volumes in June 2015. Source: own research
Note that volumes have been converted from local currency to Euro for the sake of comparison. Some figures are estimates/approximations.
*Prosper and Lending Club no longer publish origination data for the most recent monthNotice to p2p lending services not listed: Continue reading →