The basics
What is crowdlending?
Crowdlending — also called peer-to-peer, or P2P, business lending — is a way to invest by funding loans to vetted companies. You lend, the business repays you with interest, and many investors share each loan, so the risk is spread from the start.
Not a savings account
How it differs from a bank deposit
Crowdlending is not a bank deposit and it is not a guaranteed savings product. In exchange for a higher potential return, your capital is at risk. Here is the honest comparison.
Bank depositCrowdlending
Return
Bank depositLow, close to base rates
CrowdlendingHigher target return, set by each loan
Your capital
Bank depositGuaranteed up to deposit-scheme limits
CrowdlendingAt risk — you can lose some or all of what you invest
Access to funds
Bank depositAvailable on demand
CrowdlendingTied to the loan term, with a secondary market for early exit
Where your money goes
Bank depositThe bank lends it on and keeps the spread
CrowdlendingYou fund specific vetted businesses directly, with no hidden spread
The flow of capital
Where your money goes
- You
You invest
You add funds to the marketplace and choose a loan to back — or let Autoinvest choose for you.
- The loan
Your money joins a loan
Your investment pools with other investors to fund one vetted business loan. Many lenders share each loan, so your exposure is split from the start.
- The business
The business repays
The borrower repays on a fixed schedule agreed upfront, with interest paid to investors every month.
- You
You earn it back
Interest lands in your account each month, and your principal returns as the loan is paid down. You can reinvest it or withdraw.
Because many investors fund each loan, your money is spread across borrowers automatically — diversification is built into how the marketplace works.
Returns & risk
Honest about the risk
Crowdlending targets competitive annual returns, with interest paid to investors every month.
Those returns are a target, not a promise, and your capital is at risk — a borrower can fall behind or default. We do not remove that risk; we manage it. Here is how.
- Risk
A borrower falls behind or cannot repay the loan.
How we manage itEvery loan is underwritten upfront and secured against collateral within a conservative loan-to-value. A Provision Fund may also contribute, but any payment from it is discretionary and gives you no right to anything — never invest in reliance on it.
- Risk
Your money is committed for the term of the loan.
How we manage itA secondary market lets you sell your loan claims to other investors and exit early, subject to a short lock-up after each purchase.
- Risk
Too much riding on a single borrower.
How we manage itSpread your funds across many loans — Autoinvest does this for you automatically, so no single default can outweigh the rest.
- Risk
You commit to an investment before you have had time to think it over.
How we manage itAs a non-sophisticated investor you have a reflection period of four calendar days: you can withdraw your commitment for any reason, at no cost and without explaining yourself.
Key terms
The words you'll see
- Loan-to-value (LTV)
- The size of a loan measured against the value of the collateral securing it. A lower LTV means more asset cover standing behind your investment.
- Debt-to-equity (DE)
- How much a business owes compared with the capital its owners have put in. A borrower with more of its own money at stake is generally a safer one.
- Provision Fund
- A reserve set aside from platform activity that may be used to cover investors when a borrower falls behind. Any payment from it is discretionary: you have no right to one, and you should not invest in reliance on it.
- Primary & secondary market
- The primary market is where new loans are first funded. The secondary market is where investors buy and sell existing loan claims, so you can exit before a loan matures.
- Principal & interest
- Principal is the money you lend; interest is what the borrower pays you for lending it. Repayments return both to you over the life of the loan.
- Autoinvest
- A tool that spreads your funds automatically across many loans matching rules you set — diversification without choosing each loan by hand.