Estonian P2P lender Monethera suspends new deposits

Estonian peer-to-peer business lender Monethera has temporarily suspended taking new deposits on its platform.

The lender, which has run its own venture capital fund since 2017, entered the P2P lending market in June 2019.

It blamed bank issues for the suspension but said lenders can still earn interest and make withdrawals.

“We temporarily suspended all incoming deposits due to bank issues,” the platform said in a statement.

“The reason is a large number of deposits made by the third-party, such as Transferwise.

“Such services don’t indicate the allocated account number. That’s why some of you could receive bank requests for additional information about deposits and withdrawals.

“We are working on fixing this situation with colleagues from the bank side.

“The situation doesn’t affect loan interests or withdrawals.

“All deposits that you potentially sent to our account number will be automatically deployed and returned to your account shortly.”

Read more: A guide to European P2P platforms for UK investors

Monethera offers rates between 18 and 22 per cent to fund loans in Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Germany.

Its loanbook is close to £5m and it offers a buyback guarantee.

The Estonian P2P lending market is under pressure at the moment after police launched a criminal investigation into the unexplained closures of Envestio and Kuetzal, which has left investors unable to access their funds.

There is no suggestion that these cases are related.