Crowdlending: Bondora vs. Mintos — Does Higher Returns Justify the Risk?

Crowdlending has been around in Europe for over a decade and has evolved from a fintech novelty into a regulated sector with leading platforms. Bondora and Mintos are the two best-known platforms. Their returns—6.75% and up to 10.5%, respectively—seem impossible to believe when compared to the 2.5% offered by a bank deposit. Why is there such a difference, and what are the actual risks involved?

What is crowdlending?

Crowdlending (also known as P2P lending or peer-to-peer lending) allows individual investors to finance loans to people or businesses through online platforms that act as intermediaries. The investor receives the interest paid by the borrower, minus the platform’s commission.

The biggest risk is obvious: if the borrower defaults, the investor could lose some or all of the capital invested in that loan. There is no deposit insurance fund.

Bondora Go & Grow: the simplest

Return : 6.75% fixed annual.
Liquidity : on demand (with possible restrictions depending on market conditions).
Regulation : Finantsinspektsioon (Estonian FSA).
Since : 2009 (platform), Go & Grow launched in 2018.

Bondora Go & Grow is a “packaged” product: you invest in a diversified portfolio of Estonian, Latvian, and Finnish personal loans, and Bondora guarantees you 6.75% regardless of the actual performance of the loans. That sounds like a guarantee… but it isn’t legally. The platform can adjust or suspend the product if the underlying loans deteriorate.

Strengths : maximum simplicity, typically smooth liquidity, 15-year track record.
Risks : exposure concentrated in Estonian/Baltic loans, the 6.75% is not a legal guarantee, liquidity may be restricted.

Mintos: greater complexity, greater potential

Average return : 10–12% depending on the selected portfolio.
Liquidity : secondary market (not guaranteed).
Regulation : Latvian FCMC (investment firm since 2022).
Since : 2015.

Mintos is a marketplace: it connects investors with loan originators (financial companies from multiple countries) that sell their loan portfolios on the platform. The investor assumes two layers of risk: the risk of the end borrower AND the risk of the originator (that the originator goes bankrupt and cannot repurchase the loans).

In 2020–2021, Mintos suffered the bankruptcy of several major originators (Monego, Aforti, Finko), which froze tens of millions of euros. It took many investors years to recover part of their capital.

Strengths : highly geographically diversified portfolio, active secondary market, robust statistics.
Risks : originator risk historically materialized, management complexity, liquidity not guaranteed.

Direct Comparison

*Bondora's liquidity may be restricted under adverse conditions.

When does crowdlending make sense?

Crowdlending can make sense as a complement to a diversified portfolio, but never as a substitute for safe products:

• If you have your emergency fund covered by safe products (deposit, interest-bearing account, Treasury bills).
• If you can afford to leave that money untouched for several years (actual liquidity is limited in times of stress).
• If you understand that you may lose some or all of your investment.
• If the allocation to crowdlending represents a small percentage (10–15% maximum) of your total portfolio.

Conclusion

The difference in returns between crowdlending (6.75–10.5%) and bank deposits (2–2.5%) is not a gift: it is compensation for assuming real risks—default risk, platform risk, and liquidity risk. Within the same risk category, emerging market government bonds or equities also offer similar returns with more robust regulation.

On APYData, you can compare crowdlending alongside other categories with all data visible: APY, risk level, liquidity, and guarantees. View all crowdlending products →