In the United States investment opportunities in marketplace lending have long been limited to US based platforms for individual investors. However,...
Estonia-based marketplace lender, Bondora, has announced plans for a new business model and system design that will change the way the company services its borrowers and investors; the changes will involve a new system design for borrowers and investors; according to Bondora, splitting the business into two separate parts will allow for greater pricing efficiency and better reporting and analytics. Source
Bondora has reported that it will not be opening an office in London due to post-Brexit effects; instead it will open a new office in Germany; Bondora CEO, Partel Tomberg, says he is uncertain about European market access in London; Bondora CFO says German regulators including Bafin are increasingly opening up to supporting innovation in the financial sector. Source
The Estonian-based P2P lender turned a profit late 2016; hopes to turn an annual profit in 2017; revenues were 4.2 million euros (USD $4.5 million) in 2016; according to CEO Partel Tomberg: "Looking at the bigger picture, we were a bit looking for our place. We have tried a number of products, businesses and client segments over the years. By mid-2016 we understood that our focus has to be on what we started from – a faster and cheaper consumer loan product. And we understood that on the investment side it has to be an online product for the people, not so much for the banks or funds." Source