Finnish peer-to-peer lending platform Fellow Finance has expanded into Poland. From now on, Polish borrowers can apply for loans of up to 12,000 PLN, with maturities ranging from 1 to 3 years. Similarly, the platform provides local investors with juicy diversification opportunities, as they are enabled to invest in both EUR and PLN.
Founded in 2013, Fellow Finance is one of the biggest lending platforms in Finland, joint-owned by its founders and by an OMX Helsinki stock listed company called Taaleritehdas Plc. Fellow Finance uses internal and external data points and marks each accepted loan with a rating score from 1 to 5. This Funding Circle-like ratings model has proven popular amongst the platform’s investors, who may shape their portfolios according to their risk appetite. Opening an account is free of charge and losses are capped to 30% of the invested capital, meaning that investors will – in theory – always get back 70% of their principal on non-performing loans.
Fellow Finance believes that Poland is an attractive market and one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Mobile and the Internet penetration are profoundly changing consumer behaviour and way that people approach finance, creating favourable conditions for the continued rise of marketplace lending over the last 4 years.
Jouni Hintikka, CEO of Fellow Finance, commented:
“Launching operations in Poland makes Fellow Finance a genuine international platform where investors can easily do direct investments in consumer loans across geographies and in multiple currencies. This is the first step of making Fellow Finance the strongest and biggest consumer lending platform in Continental Europe and proves the scalability and flexibility of our platform,”
This update follows on from the recent opening up of the Finnish platform to Japanese investors, through a strategic partnership with the Japanese company Crowdcredit, Inc. Fellow Finance opened to investors with a bank account within European Union (EU) or Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) last October.
In just 6 months, the Finnish platform has considerably expanded its operations geographically. The company has revealed that it is also considering expanding into other countries in the foreseeable future. Mr Hintikka concluded:
“We have already seen a growing interest from our investors in the Polish market. We will continue to ramp up the volume in Poland and simultaneously continue our preparations for the next new market entries coming up later this year.”
