TWINO bolsters Russian business with second originator

TWINO has added a second Russian originator onto its platform, following an initial launch in the country in December last year.

Since then, more than 40 per cent of the peer-to-peer consumer lender’s investors have funded Russian loans, earning an average return of more than 13 per cent. Over the past eight months, more than €150,000 (£137,500) of interest has been paid out to investors.

This latest expansion follows “high demand” from both investors and borrowers, which has given TWINO a 9.6 per cent share of Russia’s consumer lending market.

Read more: TWINO becomes Europe’s first P2P lender to Kazakhstan

“Russia is undoubtedly one of Europe’s most attractive alternative lending markets and we have seen continued high demand from our investors,” said Jevgenijs Kazanins, P2P platform lead at TWINO. “We have also seen considerable demand from consumers, as the online lending market in Russia continues to grow.

“The vast majority of our borrowers in Russia have access to bank credit but choose alternative finance online players instead, primarily because they offer an easier and faster way to access money and superior customer service. This represents a huge opportunity for TWINO investors.”

Earlier this year, TWINO became the first European lending platform to offer P2P investments in Kazakhstan. It also provides short-term unsecured consumer loans in Latvia, Poland, Georgia and Spain.

Read more: TWINO enters Spanish loans market

“As a company, we’re also the first platform to introduce P2P lending to emerging markets such as Russia and Kazakhstan,” said Kazanins. “This helps us to ensure that we’re constantly maximising returns and offering new investment opportunities to our investors.”

Since it was founded in 2009, TWINO has grown to become one of the largest P2P platforms in Europe, funding a total of €170m loans from more than 9,500 investors across the continent.

Read more: European loan sales to hit record high of £115bn by end of 2017