The Africa Internet Holding (a subsidiary of Rocket Internet), today announced the launch of Lendico in South Africa (Update – May 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website, and we therefore deactivated the original link).
Lendico is a digital alternative to banks that enables investors to directly fund the loans of private individuals. Lendico, which was founded at the end of 2013, also just entered the Austrian market. In total Lendico is now active in 5 countries (Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria and South Africa).
The Lendico marketplace offers borrowers cheap loans and investors attractive returns on two continents. The idea of social lending is universal; People with money invest in the projects of people looking for funding. One party benefits from attractive returns, the other from cheap interest rates. Lendico aims to create a win-win situation that functions all over the world; without bank counters and with an innovative new process, Lendico is able to beat the prices of banks and pass these savings directly on to their borrowers and investors.
Dominik Steinkühler, Managing Director of Lendico, stated: “Lendico is very different from a bank as borrowers and lenders benefit from direct interest rates. Lendico as a global marketplace represents a modern way to get a loan and to invest in a new asset class.”
So how does it work? Prospective borrowers create a loan project on lendico.co.za, lendico.de, lendico.es, lendcio.pl or lendico.at. Lendico analyses their credit worthiness and offers borrowers extremely competitive rates. Investors can compare all loan projects online and enter bids as low as $35 or more. If a loan project gets fully funded, the borrower receives his or her loan. Investors receive their respective principal and interest payments from the first month. By diversifying their portfolio across several loan projects, investors can earn higher returns in comparison to similarly secure investments.
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