Increasing number of Brits backing European P2P loans

A PEER-TO-PEER platform backing unsecured loans in continental Europe saw interest from British investors rise by 22 per cent in December year-on-year.

Latvia-based TWINO, which offers average investor returns of 12.31 per cent, says UK lending now makes up 11.5 per cent of the platform’s loan volume, while its UK investors have the largest average portfolio size.

Despite a dip around the EU referendum last year, UK investors funded the highest value of loans in December, reflecting a renewed optimism, the platform said.

The platform has 6,300 active investors from more than 30 different countries, including 26 per cent from Germany, 12 per cent from the UK and 11 per cent from Estonia and Latvia. Investors can fund loans in Georgia, Latvia, Denmark and Poland.

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The platform also announced that it has now funded €100m (£86.1m) in loans across Europe.

“Funding €100m of loans from our P2P platform in such a short space of time is a major milestone for TWINO,” said Jevgenijs Kazanins, chief executive of TWINO.

“It demonstrates that in a volatile investment environment, investors are increasingly looking to diversify their portfolios and boost returns.

“We continue to grow quickly and we expect to double our platform volumes to €200m over the course of 2017. We also expect to see increasing numbers of UK investors, particularly as UK interest rates remain low and currency volatility remains high.”

Read more: Fitch upbeat on UK consumer loans despite Brexit