Mintos
Mintos is a marketplace for peer-to-peer lending that allows users to invest in loans granted from non-bank financial institutions (Loan Originators). Mintos specializes in consumer lending and facilitates loans both with and without buyback guarantee. Since their launch in 2015, Mintos has seen high growth rates and today they are one of the most popular choices for both new and experienced P2P investors.
BASIC INFORMATION
P2P Business Area:
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Founded:
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Founders:
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Country of Origin:
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IPO Status:
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Countries of Operation:
Consumer Lending
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2014
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Martins Sulte & Martins Valters
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Latvia
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Private
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Albania, Armenia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, FYR of Macedonia, Finland, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Zambia
LOAN CHARACTERISTICS
Interest Rates
5.5% - 20%
Loan Durations
1 Day - 240 Months
Buyback Guarantee
Minimum Investment
10
€
Loans on Mintos
Mintos have a comprehensive and informative overview of the different loans on the platform. Almost all useable information is available such as type of loan, interest rate, repayment method (amortization), remaining time and even information such as loan-to-value (LTV) is specified in the loan breakdown. Furthermore, you will find information about the loan originator, the Mintos credit rating, legal entity and the kind of Buyback Guarantee. Below this, you will be able to learn more about the borrower such as age, gender, purpose as well as the collateral and its asset details(the below picture is a car loan, so the car model, age, engine, brand), the expected payment schedule and the investment breakdown.
Buyback Guarantee on Mintos
The Buyback Guarantee on Mintos is issued by the loan originator and almost all loans on the platform are covered with such a guarantee. There are two things to be aware of:
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The buyback guarantee is different from each loan originator. But the most common is typically buying back the loan if the borrower is more than 60 days late.
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As with all buyback guarantees, the risk is shifted from the borrower and the collateral to the loan originator and its existence as a company. On Mintos the requirements for loan originators to enter the platform are low, some are not that transparent and can be hard to analyze. So make sure you check the financial strength of the loan originator and its buyback guarantee.
What Happens if a Loan Originator goes Bankrupt?
There are two different types of investment structures in P2P investing:
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The direct structure means you are buying a claim against the borrower directly.
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The indirect structure means you obtain exposure to a loan by investing in a loan issued by a platform company to the loan originator.
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Mintos loan originators operate with both direct and indirect investment structures and this is always clearly marked when browsing the companies. So two things can happen if a loan originator goes bankrupt; The loans issued by loan originators with direct investment structures, gives the investors a claim directly against the borrower in case the originator defaults. Loans issued by originators with indirect investment structure leaves you a claim against the bankrupted loan originator, that then have a claim against the borrower. It is common sense that it is not in your interest to lend money to borrowers who can’t pay back the loan, so most investors prefer direct investment structure to avoid the risk of loan originators bankrupting and pulling your investments down with them.
Assets as Collateral
The Mintos Platform is the largest European online marketplace facilitating loans from non-bank financial institutions, having more than 50 different loan originators issuing loans secured by all different kinds of assets. While consumer/pay-day lending is what most originators on Mintos do and pawnbroking assets opens the door to a wide range of collateral, property, and cars are the most common tangible assets on the platform. Though most of the loan originators has Buy Back Guarantees covering the investment, this won’t hold if the loan originator company defaults, when it ‘guarantees’ the buy-back of the defaulted loan.
This is when the assets to claim becomes important in dealing with direct investment structure, because in the end every loan is defined by the asset of which a borrower pledges collateral to secure repayments for the lender. Unsecured lenders still has a claim against the borrower, but without any specific assets to claim if any at all. The following assets available on Mintos as security for loans are:
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Cars (Secured car lending)
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Property/Real Estate (Personal mortgage lending)
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Grain sales contracts (Agricultural lending)
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Invoices (Factoring/Invoice financing)
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Businesses (Business lending)
PLATFORM FEATURES
Auto Invest
Available
Secondary Market
Available
Manual Investing
The primary market for manual investing at Mintos is very comprehensive and one of the platforms with the most detailed filtering options. It is not only possible to select specific interest rates and loan terms, but a wide range of variables: Currency, Loan type, Country, Loan Originator, Mintos Rating and if buyback guarantee or is a must or not. Since this platform is one of the biggest platforms in the world facilitation loan originator debt, the number of available loan notes is enormous.
Automatic investing
Auto lending is available on Mintos with two different ways to approach building an automatic portfolio. The Mintos Investment Strategies and The Custom Investment Strategy. For those of you that do not want to or have the abilities to build a diversified portfolio of loans and originators, have the option of selecting between three different pre-defined strategies by Mintos:
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The Short-term strategy (Debt with terms less than three months)
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The Diversified strategy (Includes all loan types, originators and countries)
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The Secured loan strategy (All loans are secured with collateral)
Below are the three different strategies and its differences, choosing one of these approaches will yield interest rates from 7% to 8,5% and up, hopefully enough to cover any loan originator bankrupts or unsecured bad debt.
Secondary Market
The secondary market on Mintos is huge compared to other players in the industry, with over 200k+ different loan notes for sale by other investors. Since January 2019 investors have been selling loans at a discount for over 30 million in every single month. Just as much is facilitated at par value and roughly about 10 million is being sold with a premium. The discount & premium is limited to be listed at a rate between -99% and +20%. Usually, loans are sold for around +/- 3%, but as this article is being written loans of discounts up to -55% are available on the secondary market.
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There are three ways to exit an investment at Mintos:
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Sell the loans on the secondary market at a premium or discount.
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Wait until the loan is paid back.
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Wait until the Buyback Guarantee is executed
NICE TO KNOW FOR INVESTORS
Registration Process
Registering at Mintos is simple. Creating an account as an individual requires just an email and a password. The platform complies with KYC (Know Your Customer) and you need to provide an identification document to be able to withdraw money from the platform.
Deposit & Withdrawal Process
Depositing funds to your investor account is done in three steps:
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Transferring money into your Mintos account via Bank transfer, TransferWise or Trustly.
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Your funds will be available for investment within the day of confirmed arrival to Mintos (usually 1-3 banking days).
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After the funds are received and added to the account, you will receive an e-mail confirmation.
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Withdrawing funds is the simplest process of the two. It consists of clicking “withdraw funds”, entering the available amount and waiting for the 1-3 business days. There is no minimum withdrawal restrictions and no further additional fees or commission for withdrawing the funds. Remember, depending on their fee structure, your bank might charge fees for handling the transaction or exchanging currency.
Reporting
Mintos features comprehensive reporting on your lending activities. Under the “Account Statement” tab you will find all the information needed to scrutinize your portfolio within any selected time frame:
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Investments
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Principal received
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Interest received
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Late fees received
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Secondary market transactions
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Investment principal rebuy (From Buyback Guarantee)
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Interest income rebuy (From Buyback Guarantee)
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The account summary can be specified in the time frame desired with the opening/closing balance. All transactions are available below that for further examination.
Mintos Tax
The income earned at Mintos is taxed for each investor based on legislation of the respective country where the investor is a tax resident. As laws vary in each country, please consult an appropriate revenue service or a tax specialist for more information. Each investor can receive extensive information necessary for tax returns when logged into their Mintos investor account. Below you can find more information about tax implications for tax residents of selected countries. The information provided does not constitute tax advice. All investors should seek independent tax advice.
Who can invest?
Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos.
Family trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies and other organizations must have a bank account and be registered in the EU or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU.
1% CASHBACK BONUS
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Terms & Conditions: New investors will get a 1 % cashback of their daily balance for the first 90 days after registration. The bonus will be paid in three installments.
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Get the Mintos bonus: click on the Sign Up button below and start investing.
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Expiration Date: None.
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Who Can Invest? To invest on Mintos you must be above 18 years of age with a bank account in the EU or other countries considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU.
Disclaimer
Please note that this overview may contain affiliate links. It means that a commission is earned if you decide to invest after using the link – of course without additional costs to you. The information on this site does not constitute investment advice and is solely to give you a simple and easy overview of the platform. Always conduct your due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.