TWINO Group, a European consumer lender which has been operating since 2009 with its P2P lending platform launching in 2015, provides unsecured consumer loans for private individuals in ten countries, including Poland, Russia and Georgia, with an intention to move into Mexico. TWINO’s P2P lending platform offers European investors the opportunity to invest in consumer loans originated by TWINO Group’s lending companies. To date, the platform has made €352 million ($373 million) in loans.
TWINO, unique for offering a “BuyBack Guarantee”, protects investors from the borrower default risk; the platform has attracted over 4,000 investors from 30 countries. According to the WSJ, as of today the Latvian company has now begun listing Russian subprime loans on its website, reportedly a first for a European marketplace lender.
“It’s becoming more and more important for investors to diversify their portfolio,” TWINO CEO Jevgenijs Kazanins told the Journal. “We want to give our investors the opportunity to get bank-beating returns and Russia has emerged as one of Europe’s most attractive alternative lending markets.”
With the Russian loans expected to pay around 14% annual interest to investors, TWINO’s portion depends on the interest charged on the loan, reported the WSJ. Russian borrower will pay over 100% in interest, Kazanins indicated in the article, the large margin is enough for pledging to repurchase any defaulted loans. The sanctions placed on Russia after its 2014 annexation of the Crimea “was a break for us,” Kazanins told the Journal.