Lendermarket Review 2026: Worth Investing Again?

What is Lendermarket?

Lendermarket is an Ireland-based P2P platform that was founded in June 2016 by the Creditstar Group. Since its operational launch in April 2019, investors on Lendermarket have been able to invest in a wide range of international consumer loans, with an advertised average return of 15.5%.

A particularly notable feature of Lendermarket is the high return expectations, driven by above-average interest rates and various bonus campaigns.

The majority of loans on Lendermarket come from the Creditstar Group, an Estonian fintech company that encompasses a variety of internationally active lenders.

In its early years, Lendermarket was used exclusively as a financing source for Creditstar Group’s lending operations. In May 2022, the first external lender was added, following the decision to transform the platform into a P2P lending marketplace.

Lendermarket at a Glance

All key facts and figures about Lendermarket at a glance.

Business Model

How does Lendermarket make money? Lendermarket generates its revenue through a variable brokerage fee, which is charged to lenders in exchange for financing via the P2P marketplace.

The amount depends on the volume of loans financed and can range between 2% and 5%. The exact fee also varies based on the borrower’s country and the type of loans the lender offers.

Ownership and Management

Who are the main shareholders and management executives behind Lendermarket? Let’s have a look!

Lendermarket Ownership

Who owns Lendermarket? The P2P platform “Lendermarket Limited” is fully owned by “SA Financial Investments OÜ“. This is an Estonian holding company to which a total of 18 companies belong.

Its owner and ultimate beneficiary is Aaro Sosaar, who is also the CEO and main shareholder of Creditstar Group.

He holds a university degree in banking and international finance. He describes himself as an entrepreneur and investor in financial services and technology.

Lendermarket Management

In September 2023, Carles Federico was introduced as the new CEO of the Lendermarket P2P platform. Carles is an experienced manager in sales and finance who previously worked for the Creditstar Group between September 2015 and April 2021. As a result, the often emphasized independence of Lendermarket from its largest lender can be seriously questioned.

Currently, around 15 to 20 employees work directly at Lendermarket. According to the platform, no operational support is provided by the Creditstar Group. On this page, investors can get an overview of the P2P platform’s team members.

Sign Up

In order to invest on Lendermarket, investors must meet three requirements:

• Minimum age of 18 years
• Residence in the European Economic Area or Switzerland
• European bank account in the specified name.

The registration process is pretty simple and intuitive. After opening an account with an email address, users must complete the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) questionnaires. This is followed by identity verification and providing the tax residency information.

Legal entities also have the option to register with Lendermarket.

Lendermarket Bonus

If Lendermarket’s profile appeals to you, you can receive an additional investment bonus for the platform via this blog.

To do so, you must first register with Lendermarket via this link. You will then receive a 1% cashback on all investments you make in the first 90 days after successful registration. For an investment of EUR 10,000, this corresponds to a cashback of EUR 100.

A platform overview with all bonus offers and cashback promotions can be found on the bonus page.

Lendermarket Forum

The P2P lending industry is a fast-moving environment. Hence, make sure to stay on top of all relevant information by subscribing to my channels on Telegram or WhatsApp. This way, you will always receive the latest information from the P2P industry, including platform news regarding Lendermarket. 

Investing on Lendermarket

How does Lendermarket work and what should investors know and consider when investing on the plaform? In the following sections of my Lendermarket review you will find all the necessary information that you need.

Loan Offering

In 2022, Lendermarket completed its transformation into a P2P marketplace. As a result, it no longer finances loans exclusively from Creditstar Group companies, but also from external lenders.

“[..] a decision was made to become a separate and independent platform, and start offering fundraising and liquidity for non-banking lending companies globally.”

Below is a brief overview of the profiles of the current lenders on Lendermarket:

• Creditstar Group: Founder and driving force behind the Lendermarket platform. Established in Estonia in 2006, Creditstar is a profitable and internationally active financial company. Subsidiaries of the Creditstar Group are regulated in eight countries where the company offers its lending services. Investors are offered a group buyback guarantee to secure the obligations of the individual lenders within the group.
• Dineo: On Lendermarket since May 2023. The lender provides consumer loans to private individuals ranging from EUR 50 to EUR 600, with interest rates between 10% and 15% for short-term loans of up to 90 days. The loans are secured with both a 60-day buyback guarantee and the group buyback guarantee.
• RapiCredit: On Lendermarket since November 2023. One of the largest microfinance fintechs in Colombia, founded in 2014. Consumer loans to private individuals are offered on Lendermarket with interest rates of up to 18%, for terms of up to 180 days. Buyback guarantee applies after 60 days of payment delay.
• Credifiel: On Lendermarket since August 2024. A Mexico-based lender that is active since 2006. The lender primarily provides private consumer loans. Interest rates go up to 12%, with loan terms of up to 37 months. Loans are covered by a 60-day buyback guarantee. Credifiel is also present on Mintos.

Costs and Fees

On Lendermarket, investors are not charged any fees. Neither for deposits or withdrawals, nor for investing on the platform itself.

Expected Returns

Lendermarket offers above-average interest rates across the P2P market. According to the platform, the expected average return is 15.5%, with some individual loans having offered interest rates of up to 19%.

Auto Invest 

On Lendermarket, investors can use Auto Invest to allocate their funds. This means investors can set predefined criteria, which an algorithm then uses when assigning new loans. As a result, investments on Lendermarket can be managed passively.

Selectable criteria include the lender, minimum and maximum amount per loan, interest rate, and loan term. Alternatively, investors can choose from predefined Auto Invest strategies, which differ in terms of interest rates and loan durations.

A secondary market, where loans can be sold before maturity, does not yet exist on Lendermarket.

Buyback Guarantee

Similar to many other P2P platforms, Lendermarket promotes a loan protection mechanism in the form of a buyback guarantee.

This guarantee is triggered when a loan is more than 60 days overdue. The lender is then required to repurchase the loan in full, including both principal and accrued interest.

However, there are occasional differences in the extension periods depending on the lender.

For example, with Creditstar, up to 6 extensions of 30 days each can occur. This means that a loan with an original term of 30 days could theoretically be repaid only 240 days later (60 days until the buyback guarantee is triggered + 180 days of possible extensions). Since there is no secondary market on Lendermarket, this can significantly limit liquidity for investors.

To date, the buyback guarantee has always been honored.

Lendermarket Taxes

Generally, interest income generated by loan financing is considered capital income and thus must be declared as such in the tax declaration. 

Unlike other platforms, Lendermarket does not withhold taxes through interest income such as in Latvia or Lithuania.

For the tax declaration, investors can select the “Account Statement” tab in the main menu, where a tax report for the respective year can be downloaded. This information can then be submitted to the relevant tax office as part of a tax return.

Lendermarket Risks

Investing in P2P loans carries many risks. Which risk factors should be considered with Lendermarket, and how should they be assessed?

Platform Risk

The P2P platform, operated by the Irish company “Lendermarket Limited,” was founded on June 29, 2016, with its operational launch taking place in 2019.

After operating unregulated and without a license in its initial years, the platform received authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland in December 2024 to operate as a crowdfunding service provider under EU Regulation 2020/1503.

This requires, among other things, a proper separation of investor funds, protecting investors from potential misappropriation. To ensure this, Lendermarket works with FIRE Financial Services, an FCA-authorized and Irish Central Bank-regulated e-money institution.

As a result, investors retain full access to their funds in the event that Lendermarket ceases operations, and loan repayments can continue as scheduled.

The regulation also imposes stricter compliance and transparency standards on Lendermarket, increasing the platform’s overall security. However, potential loan defaults or insolvencies of the issuers are not covered by this regulatory framework.

Deposit Insurance

The investments offered through Lendermarket are not covered by European deposit guarantee schemes (such as the Deposit Guarantee Directive 2014/49/EU). This means that – unlike traditional bank deposits – funds invested on Lendermarket are not insured or guaranteed by any national or European compensation scheme.

Accordingly, investors should be aware that the capital invested is subject to the risk of loss, that returns are not guaranteed, and that they may not recover the full amount originally invested.

However, the claims against the lending companies remain valid and can be enforced legally.

Financial Stability

The financial stability of a P2P platform is a key risk factor. Is Lendermarket able to operate profitably? And how well is the company positioned financially?

Profitability

Lendermarket is currently not profitable. According to the financial figures for 2024, the P2P lending platform had to accept a loss of nearly EUR 300,000. While revenue has slightly increased to EUR 1.37 million, operating and administrative costs rose disproportionately.

As a result of this performance, accumulated losses have now added up to nearly EUR 1.5 million.

On the positive side: A capital injection of approximately EUR 487,000 from the shareholders slightly improved the equity position. Cash reserves also increased by EUR 60,000.

Lender Risk

Lendermarket evaluates each of its lenders against several criteria. The platform also provides a public risk rating, in which loan originators are analyzed across four categories: transparency, legal environment, financial stability, and transactions.

Regardless of Lendermarket’s due diligence, investors should also review the financial statements of the respective lenders themselves, which are published on the platform. Below is a tabular overview of the current financial figures for each lender.

The lender overview and comparison page provides a detailed explanation of each evaluation criterion and guidance on how to interpret the figures.

Creditstar Repayments

Lendermarket has a history of repayment issues with loans from the Creditstar Group. One factor is the frequent use of extension periods, which can significantly limit investor liquidity.

Creditstar Group companies are not required to repay loans immediately after a 60-day delinquency under the buyback guarantee. Instead, they can extend the repayment six times, each for 30 days. For a loan with a 30-day term, this means it could potentially be repaid up to 240 days later (60 days until the buyback guarantee + 180 days of extension).

Another long-standing issue on the Lendermarket platform is the presence of Pending Payments.

Essentially, these are funds that are in the process of being transferred to the investor’s account. The reason behind this is that claims against the lenders are handled in batch processes, where investments and repayments are offset against each other, and only the net difference is transferred. As a result, investor payouts are shown as “Pending Payments” until the lender’s payment has actually been received.

Given the frequency and volume of Pending Payments, and taking into account the applied extension periods, it is difficult to dismiss the liquidity issues on the part of Creditstar companies. Additionally, the fact that investors can reinvest funds that have not yet been returned should also be seen as a critical point.

At least: In October 2025, the platform announced that all outstanding payments had been settled.

Advantages and Disadvantages

In this section, I have listed the most important advantages and disadvantages of Lendermarket.

Summary Lendermarket Review

Lendermarket is an Ireland-based P2P platform where investors can achieve above-average returns. In recent years though, investors had to pay a high price for these yields.

The platform operated in an unregulated environment, offered limited transparency in many areas, and liquidity was heavily constrained by extension periods and pending payments. In addition, management stability was lacking for years, and external communication also left room for improvement.

In recent years, however, a positive transformation can be observed. In December 2024, Lendermarket obtained a license from the Central Bank of Ireland to operate under the EU Crowdfunding Regulation. Pending payments have been settled, key management positions are now more stable, and transparency (though not yet perfect) has improved significantly.

Who should consider investing on the platform?

Investors seeking high returns from mature and profitable lenders such as Credifiel and Creditstar should consider Lendermarket as a good investment option. Those who prioritize liquidity more strongly should consider to join the Creditstar spin-off, Monefit SmartSaver, instead.

Lendermarket Alternatives

Already invested in Lendermarket? Or looking for similar platforms? Here are three Lendermarket alternatives from the P2P market.

Bondora: One of the oldest P2P platforms in Europe with a track record dating back to 2008. Similar to Lendermarket, Bondora is backed by its own parent company with long-standing experience in the lending business. Investors that appreciate the simplicity of Lendermarket will find a similarly straightforward investment product in Bondora Go & Grow, with the added benefit of daily liquidity. More information in my Bondora review.

Income Marketplace: An unregulated P2P marketplace headquartered in Estonia, which markets itself through innovative security features that are designed to protect investors from underperforming loan originators. Compared to Lendermarket, Income Marketplace offers a broader selection of international loan originators and an attractive combination of high interest rates and high liquidity. More information in my Income Marketplace review.

Monefit SmartSaver: An investment product of the Creditstar Group, the parent company behind Lendermarket. Headquartered in Estonia and conceptually very similar to Bondora Go & Grow. Investors that value the Creditstar connection but prefer a simpler and more liquid investment format will find an interesting alternative in Monefit SmartSaver, with daily availability. More information in my Monefit SmartSaver review.

You can find other Lendermarket alternatives on the P2P Platform Comparison page.

FAQ Lendermarket Review

Denny Neidhardt

denny@rethink-p2p.de | Webseite

I’m Denny Neidhardt, the founder of re:think P2P. On this blog, I help retail investors make smarter, well-informed investment decisions in the world of P2P lending. Since 2019, I’ve been publishing in-depth analyses, platform reviews, and risk assessments to bring more transparency to this investment space. My goal is to challenge marketing claims, question developments, and empower investors with honest, independent insights.

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