Lonvest Review Summary
Lonvest is a Croatian-based P2P platform offering high-yielding investments of up to 12.5% per year from loan originator issuing loans in Mexico. The platform offers an auto invest and all loans are backed by a 60-day buyback guarantee.
Main takeaways from our Lonvest review:
- Above average return
- In-house loan originator from Mexico
- Limited diversification
- New platform
Lonvest suits investors seeking to invest in emerging markets such as Mexico.
Ready to earn up to 12.5% interest?
What is Lonvest?
Lonvest is a recently launched P2P lending platform offering investments in loans from Mexico. Lonvest offers a 60-day buyback and group guarantee for all the listed investments on the platform. Investors can earn between 12% to 13% by investing in loans on Lonvest.
Continue reading our Lonvest review to find out more.
Pros
- High yield
- Low debt-to-equity ratio
- Owned by a reputable finance group
- No third-party lenders
- Good loan availability
Cons
- Limited diversification
- No secondary market
- Higher risk due to newly launched lenders
Lonvest Promo Code
Lonvest offers a 1% cashback bonus for our readers on P2P Empire. You do not need to type in any Lonvest promo code as long as you register via our partner link.
The bonus will be calculated based on your investment during the first 90 days of registration.
User Requirements
Lonvest is available worldwide except for a few countries in Africa and South America. Users from Russia and the USA can also not earn interest on Lonvest.
To create an account, you have to fulfill the following requirements:
- Be over 18 years of age
- Pass the KYC and AML questions
- Verify your identity
During the verification process, you are required to take a selfie and a photo of your passport or ID. The verification takes no longer than 2 minutes.
After you have completed the verification, you can top-up your Lonvest account by transferring funds to the Lonvest Platform, which operates a Revolut account in Euro.
It can take up to 3 business days until your money is deposited on Lonvest.
Does Lonvest deduct taxes?
Lonvest does not deduct taxes from your interest or bonus payouts. Investors can download an account statement, which can be submitted to tax authorities in their respective countries.
Risk & Return
Since Lonvest is a rather small platform with a limited track record, there are additional risk factors that you have to consider.
Lonvest Portfolio Performance
In our recent interview with the CEO, we gathered insights into the performance of lending portfolios in Vietnam and Poland, the initial investment options when Lonvest launched its platform.
Due to regulatory changes and increased risks in Vietnam, Lonvest ceased offering investments in that region in the first quarter of 2024. Currently, the platform features investments from a newly launched lender in Mexico.
At this time, Lonvest has not provided P2P Empire with performance-related data, as the lender has just begun operations in the country. We will update this Lonvest review if we obtain any performance metrics about the lender’s portfolio.
It's important to note that investing in newly launched lenders carries higher risks. It typically takes a minimum of six to twelve months for an experienced team to establish a portfolio of acceptable quality in a new market. While the platform is backed by Space Crew Finance, this remains a risk factor to consider.
Buyback & Group Guarantee
Lonvest provides a 60-day buyback guarantee along with a group guarantee from the Space Crew Finance group of companies.
During our research, we were unable to access the group guarantee agreements. However, the platform has assured us that these documents will soon be available for review on their website.
As a savvy P2P investor, it's essential to understand the platform's strategy for recovering funds in the event of a lending company default.
Space Crew Finance ensures that its lenders do not fund more than 50% of their portfolios through P2P investors. This means that in the case of a default, any losses will be covered by the lender’s own capital.
Lonvest offers competitive interest rates for investments in loans from Mexico, allowing you to earn between 12% and 13% on loans backed by a buyback guarantee.
Is Lonvest Safe?
Investing on a small launched platform always involves elevated risk. As an investor, you must evaluate the risk and decide whether it is worth taking.
Who Leads The Team?
Lonvest is founded and managed by Roman Katarynchyk, the founder of Space Crew Finance, the financial group listing loans on Lonvest.
Space Crew Finance is headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 2018, the finance group has expanded operations to Vietnam and Sri Lanka. In 2022, Space Crew Finance launched a loan originator in Poland.
Space Crew Finance also has experience in Ukraine's bond issuance in the local currency. The majority of Space Crew Finance’s lending portfolios are funded from its equity and profits generated in local markets.
Get to know the founder of Lonvest in our exclusive interview. Note that since the interview was recorded the platform stopped offering loans from Vietnam and Poland and expanded its loan offerings in Mexico.
Are There Any Suspicious Terms And Conditions?
Let’s review some of the terms you should know before investing on Lonvest.
Amendments
The platform reserves the right to amend any terms and conditions without notice.
As Lonvest is registered in Croatia, the platform has no reporting duties to the regulator, making it easier for the company to change terms sporadically.
Inability to transfer funds
In 5.21 Lonvest describes the scenarios where the company may not be liable to transfer funds to investors.
One of the cases where the platform won’t be liable for funds transfer is technical failure that may result in the complication and/or impossibility of performing all or particular transactions in funds.
This is a very vague term that could be potentially used against investors.
Fees
Lonvest also reserves the right to deduct Service Fees from investors as described in section 6 under the terms and conditions.
While conducting our Lonvest review, we could not locate any fee list on the platform.
Freeze of User’s Funds
In 7.2 Lonvest reserves the right to freeze users' funds if the information by a User is false/not up to date/wrong. A User may be held personally and criminally liable for providing false or misleading contact details (telephone, email, and residential address) and/or documents to pass the verification process on the Platform and further requests.
So, if the investor changes his home address and does not report this information to Lonvest, the platform might freeze the account.
Lonvest’s terms and conditions are formulated to benefit the platform rather than the user. There are also no group guarantee agreements available publicly.
Potential Red Flags
- Lonvest can change terms and conditions at any time before informing investors
- Lonvest shall not be liable for the inability to transfer funds due to technical failures
- The terms and conditions give little rights to investors
What’s Our Opinion Of Lonvest?
Lonvest has the potential to become a solid choice for investors in the future.
Since the platform launched its operations in early 2023, predicting its long-term performance is challenging.
While Lonvest offers competitive interest rates, it currently features investments in a newly launched lender in Mexico. Investing in lending startups inherently carries higher risks. Although Lonvest appears to be fulfilling its commitments to investors, this remains an important consideration.
During our interview, the CEO mentioned that many lenders within the group are self-sufficient, which is why they aren't offering investments on Lonvest at this time. The platform hinted that investors will soon have the opportunity to invest in consumer loans from Romania.
With its currently low debt-to-equity ratio, investments in Lonvest may appear attractive to some investors.
The buyback guarantee is expected to be honored under normal market conditions, given the relatively low funding volumes.
Usability
Lonvest offers a very intuitive investment dashboard. After you have deposited money into your account, you can take advantage of the investment calculator, which represents the auto invest.
You can set up your investment amount, select the country and period, and the option to reinvest your funds. After you have read and agreed with the user terms, you can activate your auto-invest.
During the auto investment setup, you will be limited to investing a maximum amount of €5,000 into loans from a single country.
The platform doesn’t currently offer the option to invest in loans manually.
On the left-hand side, you can review your transactions as well as your active investments with information about the loan status and investment period.
The platform doesn’t offer account and income statements yet, which decreases the usability of Lonvest
Liquidity
Lonvest offers investments in payday loans, meaning the maximum loan term is limited by typically 30 days.
As the platform doesn’t offer any secondary market, you cannot exit your investment before the end of the loan term. There are no early exit options available.
Support
Lonvest's support team is highly responsive, typically providing answers to our inquiries within two to three business days. If you need assistance with your investments on Lonvest, please refer to the contact information provided at the end of this review.
Lonvest Alternatives
Lonvest offers investments in payday loans from Poland and Vietnam. The best alternative platforms would be Esketit, PeerBerry, and Robocash, all top-performing P2P lending sites in Europe with limited loan availability.
Esketit
Esketit is a P2P platform founded by the founders of Creamfinance, a reputable lending group in Europe. The P2P lending site lists funds from selected Creamfinance lenders and a lending company from Jordan, which is owned by the same management as Esketit.
The platform offers convenient investment strategies that minimize cash drag and maximize liquidity. On average, investors can expect to earn between 10% and 12% interest, depending on the individual loans. Learn more about this platform in our Esketit review.
PeerBerry
PeerBerry is a Lithuanian-based P2P marketplace, mainly listing loans from lenders operated by the Aventus Group trademark.
PeerBerry is the only platform that activated the group guarantee to repay investors’ money from war-affected countries.
While the loan availability on PeerBerry is somewhat limited, investors can still invest in loans manually for an average return of 10% per year. Read our PeerBerry review to learn more about this P2P lending platform.
Robocash
Robocash is one of the most reliable platforms on the market, offering investments in loans from UnaFinance, a reputable Asian lender.
Robocash may not be the largest player in the industry, but so far, none of the investors ever faced any pending payments or delays from non-performing loans, as on other platforms.
Unfortunately, the loan availability is limited on Robocash, meaning it is unlikely that investors can deploy a large sum of money quickly. Read our Robocash review to learn more about the platform.