Mintos Review
My first crowdlending platform. The best known, winner of several awards, the best established, the most complete, the highest volume, the largest number of suppliers, the possibility of investing in various currencies … During 2018, Mintos has exceeded 1,500 million euros in investments to become the largest market for loans in Europe (according to P2P-Banking), they have hired 28 new workers to almost double their workforce, have registered 55,000 new investors to reach (almost) 100,000 investors, have raised 5 million euros in a funding round, have incorporated 31 new originators from 13 new countries, and investors have received 20.9 million in interest.
If I had to choose a single platform, Mintos offers the best chance to diversify. I must say that Mintos met my expectations, and I continued to gradually increase my position in Euro and started investing in other currencies with more attractive interest rates (Georgian lari or Kazakh tenge). Interest rates of loans offered can fluctuate quite a bit, so one must be alert, check regularly and update the parameters of AutoInvest to maximize returns (and avoid that parameters are too strict compared with what is on offer). You also have to pay attention to promotions. Some, such as Mogo’s or GetBucks’, have allowed me to almost double my profits during 3-4 months. The secondary market also offers excellent opportunities for profitability. And finally, it is convenient to be very attentive to the suppliers that are selected. I analyze monthly the delays and defaults to adjust the originators in my AutoInvest criteria. Now it is easier because Mintos offers a ranking from A+ to C depending on their quality.
- Platform Type: Crowdlending to individuals (P2P) – Marketplace with about 50 originators (and growing).
- Start: 2015, Latvia.
- Modalities: Personal loans for the purchase of vehicles, short-term, business loans. From a few Euro to more than a million per loan. 50 different originators and an ever growing list. For some months now, Mintos has developed a ranking with the quality / reliability of suppliers from A+ to D, not always directly correlated with profitability.
- In June 2019, Mintos launched a new product, Invest & Access, which makes investing and withdrawing your money quick and easy, but at lower rates that what you could get with AutoInvest or manual investment.
- Geographic focus: More than any other platform and it keeps on growing: 26 countries on all continents!
- Currencies: More than any other platform and the list is keeps on growing: EUR, GEL, KZT, GBP, USD, RUB, SEK, RON, RUB, PLN, MXN DKK, CZK …
- Return rates: Highly variable, depending mainly on the currency: EUR (5-14%), GEL (up to 16%), KZT (up to 17-18%), RUB (up to 18.5%) and GBP (8-13% ). Returns may fluctuate greatly from month to month.
- Investment flow / Cash Drag: There are always loans available in Euro. Thousands. In other currencies, they may be exhausted at some point in time, usually only for a couple of days.
- Minimum investment (per loan): From 10 EUR in the primary market and no minimum in the secondary.
- Payment modality: Interest is paid every month. It is not uncommon for some providers to buy back their own loans well before they expire.
- Duration of loans: Between a few days and more than 70 months. Usually this depends on the originator.
- Defaults: Most loans are guaranteed (Buyback). Among the non-secured, there are defaults, although personally I’ve never invested in them.
- Buyback: The system is activated repurchase 60 days late.
- AutoInvest: Yes, it has a really detailed AutoInvest function that can be configured according to the interest rate, term, amount to be invested by loan, country, supplier, and if you want to reinvest the profits. In addition, there is a very useful option to automatically diversify among several providers. There is also a manual option that allows selecting using the same criteria. Finally, there is also an AutoInvest function in the secondary market since December 2018, which can be really useful, although there is fierce competition for the most attractive loans.
- Secondary market: Really active and thousands of loans always available, sometimes at attractive discounts. With AutoInvest since December 2018.
- Interface / Tools: Of the best platforms. Intuitive interface with all the tools and charts you may need. You can view, filter and download (in Excel) transactions, investments and loans available in the market, invest in automatic format, check the benefits generated (divided by interest, bonuses, etc.), the status of your investments (delays, defaults, etc.), generate graphs of your investments … There is the option to receive reports by email daily, weekly and / or monthly.
- Taxes: It doesn’t withhold taxes.
- Customer Support: I have contacted them several times (via email) and they always answered within 24 hours.
- Languages: Spanish, English, German, Latvian, Polish and Russian.
- Welcome promotion: 0.75% of the amount invested during the first three months if you use this link.