Lendahand is a Netherlands-based online lending platform with the objective to stimulate employment in emerging countries. Lendahand is part of the investor compensation scheme (ICS). This scheme aims to compensate individuals and small businesses who have trusted money and or financial instruments (such as notes or options) to a licensed bank, investment firm or a financial institution in case the financial firm is unable to meet its obligations arising from claims related to the investment service (in particular, if the bonds obtained by investors are not correctly kept by Hands-On BV in the Wge depot). The ICS guarantees an amount of up to EUR 20,000 per individual per institution.
What investors think about Lendahand?
Lendahand says there are the three advantages that stand out are:
- You know exactly how your money is used (in control)
- You get a fair interest rate of 3-4% per annum (financial return)
- You help creating jobs in poor countries (social return)
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Key facts about Lendahand
Estimated annual returns: 3-5%
Launched: 2011
Autoinvest: No
Loan security: Yes
Provision fund: No
Buyback guarantees: No
Registered investors: N/A
Minimal investment: € 50
Time to become invested: depends on loans availability
Time needed managing: Low
Regulation: Regulated by the the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM)
Country of operation: UK and Netherlands
Defaulted loans: N/A
Borrowers verification: By the third parties
Accepted currencies: Euro
Accepts investors from: Worldwide
Lendahand Review: Pros and Cons
PROS
- Investment policy can be tailored to purchase whole loans based on pre-defined criteria or invest into fractional loans across the market
- International business architecture
- Wide selection of withdraw funds
- Fast ID verification and time to become money invested (in my example one day)
- Regulated
- Social lending aspect
CONS
- Not many projects on the marketplace
- Low interest rates
Competitors:
Mintos, Indiegogo, Kickstarter
Lendahand review: What I have experienced so far
Firstly, some words about opening account at Lendahand. For me it was easy process, all I needed was to fill my personal data and upload And that’s it. Later you have to upload your ID card copy to Lendahand dashboard and wait for confirmation. Add funds to Lendahand account also is enough easy as you can choose to make a deposit with bank transfer.
Secondly, some facts about my investment experience with Lendahand. The first thing I want to emphasize about Lendahand that from investor’s point of view it should not be seen as an investment platform. Lendahand is a social enterprise. The social aspect is the glue that holds the Lendahand community together. The fact that one is able to stay in control of how the money is used and gets a decent financial return is a necessary condition for Lendahand to exist, but the social return is the ultimate goal. It means that investors who invest in projects listed there should think it as a support given for young entrepreneurs.
All in all, Lendahand has a lot experience in crowdfunding industry. They issued more than €48 million in loans and offers investors to become social lenders. Moreover, the platform has user-friendly and intuitive dashboard. Lendahand is a regulated investment company, so investments there are more secure than in other lending platforms. However, returns are very low from 3% to 6%, so as investor you should look at it as a social lending platform where you chose to support others and not to earn high interest rates.
Lendahand review is written by Tomas Medeckis
