Swaper Review
Swaper is an Estonian Peer to Peer (P2P) lending platform that lists pre-funded unsecured consumer loans originated by the Wandoo Finance Group, which is the parent company of Swaper. Swaper offers a 30-day buyback guarantee as well as an Auto Invest feature. The downside of this platform is, however, the small availability of loans.
Find out more about whether this is the P2P lending platform for you in our Swaper review.
Swaper News
- 11/09/2020 - Swaper released the audited financial report for 2019 with a net profit of âŹ404.233
- 02/09/2020 - We have updated our Swaper review to better reflect the current situation
Swaper in Numbers
Letâs dive right in and have a look at Swaperâs statistics. Fortunately, Swaper gives you the option to view relevant statistics right on their website. You, therefore, donât need to trawl the internet to find basic information about the total loan value as well as earned interest.
| Swaper Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Year founded: | 2016 |
| Investor's earnings: | + âŹ2.3 M |
| Total loan value: | + âŹ164 M |
| Number of investors: | + 4,300 |
| Loss of investors' money: | not available |
| Average portfolio size: | âŹ5,500 |
| Latest financial report: | Report for 2019 |
If you want to learn more about Swaper's latest performance click on the latest financial report where you can learn more about Swaper's performance for 2019.
Swaper Promo Code
Many P2P lending platforms offer a cashback bonus or promo code for new investors. Swaper chooses a different bonus structure, which is similar to the rewards PeerBerry's investors receive.
Active investors, who have an average portfolio size of over âŹ5,000 over a three month period are eligible to receive a 2% loyalty bonus. This is more than youâll receive on any other platform at the moment.
You don't need any special Swaper Promo Code to get your bonus.
Is this ticking your investment boxes?
Swaperâs New User Requirements
In order to sign up on Swaper you need to be over 18 years old and reside within the European Economic Area. You also need to have a bank account from the country of your residence that is listed in your name. You can also open a business account with Swaper if thatâs something that interests you.
No EUR bank account? No problem
- Open a free N26 bank account
- Open a free TransferWise bank account
Transferring money to Swaper is equally quick and easy; it only took us one day to transfer our money from our N26 bank account using a SEPA transfer.
Risk and Return
When investing in P2P lending you should be aware of the risks that come with it. Swaper has a very similar business model to Bondora and Fellow Finance. Both platforms list their own loans on the marketplace rather than working with other loan originators. The main way that Swaper differs from Bondora and Fellow Finance is that it offers a buyback guarantee.
Swaperâs Buyback Guarantee
In cases where the borrower is late for their loan repayment by more than 30 days, the loan originator (Swaper) will repurchase the claim that you (the investor) has with the borrower. This includes the invested principal and accrued interest.
Swaperâs buyback guarantee is basically the same protection scheme as offered by Robocash or Moncera, which follow the same business model but offers loans from different countries.
Is Swaper Safe?
Thatâs one of the most important questions every investor should be asking before signing up and transferring funds to Swaper. In this section of our Swaper review, we will conduct our own due diligence about the platformâs team and their terms and conditions.
Letâs jump right into it.
Who Runs the Company?
Swaper is run by Danija Misus, who joined the platform as a project manager back in 2017. Today her role is to lead the company as a âplatform leadâ.
According to Danijaâs LinkedIn profile, she worked for almost three years at the airline company AirBaltic, as a Sales and Service Specialist and Group Unit Supervisor.
Note that she isnât the owner or the CEO of the company. In our mutual dialogue with Swaper, we found out that Swaperâs team is very small, and currently, is downsized due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Swaper has recently added some basic information about the team as well as the the lender Wandoo Finance.
Who is the Companyâs Legal Owner?
Finding the legal owner of Swaper required quite some effort as their website doesnât provide any relevant information.
During our research, we found a name - Marina Tjulinova - in one of the Estonian business registries. She appears to be the owner of the platform and Danija confirmed this information.
Marina Tjulinova is the owner of Swaper Platform OU (Estonia) and an IT development company Neotech Development OU (Estonia).
The connection between Wandoo Finance and Swaper
Iveta Bruvele is the founder of Wandoo Finance SIA (Latvia) - the parent company of loan originators that acquire funding from Swaper.
Wandoo Finance SIA (Latvia) was looking for investments back in 2017, and Neotech Development OU (Estonia) was willing to provide it, for which the company became a shareholder of Wandoo Finance SIA (Latvia).
Marina Tjulinova is, therefore, a partial owner of Wandoo Finance.
Wandoo Finance launched Swaper SIA (Latvia) to provide funding for its loans. The company moved to Estonia due to regulatory reasons, and thatâs how Swaper Platform OU (Estonia) came into place.
Are There Any Suspicious Terms and Conditions?
Letâs have a look at what we found when reading Swaperâs terms and conditions.
Clause 3.10 - Separation of Funds
In section 3.10, you can read how your funds are kept. We were not content with the way Swaper phrased this clause as it was not clear that the funds are kept in segregated bank accounts.
We reached out to Swaper and Danija confirmed that Swpaer has two bank accounts. One for the funds of investors and the second for operational purposes. From an accounting perspective, investorsâ funds appear as Swaper liabilities on its balance sheet.
Clause 3.11 - Withdrawals
In section 3.11, you learn that Swaper shall at any time fulfill the withdrawal request of your positive balance. This means that in case Swaper should encounter âproblemsâ with withdrawals, they are legally in trouble.
It takes a maximum of two business days to process your withdrawal request with Swaper.
Clause 4.4 - Liability
As any P2P platform, Swaper isnât responsible for any losses that might occur as a result of investing in loans through the platform.
This is a standard clause that you will find on any P2P lending site. There is always a chance to lose all of your investments.
Clause 6.9 - Amendements to T&C
Swaper gives you a sixty days notice before changing any T&C. This should give you enough time to review the amendments and evaluate how it can impact your investments.
We see this clause as something positive, as many platforms reserve the right to amend any T&C without prior notice which puts the investors at a disadvantage.
Do Investors Have Access to Individual Assignment Agreements?
You can only view the assignment agreement before you invest manually or setup your Auto Invest portfolio.
After you have invested in one loan, you will be able to view the assignment agreement under My Investments. You need to click on the small red arrow and download the document.
Unfortunately, Swaper does not provide a template of the assignment agreement to unregistered users, so you arenât able to review it before creating and verifying your account.
Also, the platform doesnât offer the availability to view loan agreements for already repaid investments, whereas other platforms give you this flexibility.
What's our opinion about Swaper?
Swaper has been able to address our questions for which we are very grateful. The company recently published information about the team, and finally published the annual financial report for 2019.
While we appreciate that Swaper delivers on its promises, however, the platform is very slow in doing so.
Currently we have a very small portfolio on Swaper to monitor the progress and evolvement of the platform, however, there are better P2P platforms that deserve your attention.
Potential Red Flags
- The legal structure behind Swaper and its owners is not comprehensive
Usability
In terms of usability, Swaper did a great job. The platform is aesthetically pleasing, with a modern look and all the basic features youâd expect. The navigation is very intuitive and you can find everything you need within just a few clicks.
The sign-up process is fairly easy when compared to competitor platforms like Crowdestate or Fellow Finance, where you need to provide a full financial overview before being accepted as an investor.
Auto Invest
Swaper, similarly to many other P2P lending platforms, gives you the opportunity to automate your investments. Setting up your Swaper Auto Invest feature takes no more than one minute. You can choose the following diversification options:
- Portfolio size
- Investment period
- Interest
- Investment amount per loan
- Minimum account balance
- Countries (Poland, Georgia, Denmark, Spain, Russia)
- Loan characteristics
You can also choose whether to reinvest your returns. After you have defined your preferences, simply save your settings and let Swaper do the rest.
Swaper App
If you prefer to use native apps for Android and iOS, you can download the Swaper mobile app and manage your investments from anywhere. Swaper and Twino are two of the only P2P lending platforms that offer an intuitive mobile app for their investors.
Liquidity Rates
When it comes to P2P lending, many investors aim for the highest returns on P2B platforms like Crowdestor where you can earn up to 20% in interest each year. Many investors, however, donât take into account the liquidity rates of these platforms. High yield investments are usually not known for high liquidity.
Secondary Market
Swaper makes withdrawing your money easy. You can simply sell your investments on the secondary market if you wish to withdraw your money before the end of the loan period. Note, however, that trading on the secondary market isnât something that you should be practiced on a regular basis as often youâll be selling your claims for a discounted price.
Swaper's Customer Support
Swaperâs customer support is very responsive. When we contacted the team, they got back to us within one hour.
The best way to contact Swaperâs customer support team is via the live chat on their website browser or by sending them an email on info@swaper.com. If you prefer to chat over the phone, give them a call from Monday through to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm.
Swaper vs. Mintos
Swaper is most often compared to Mintos, however, when we look at the details, it becomes clear that the platforms are fundamentally quite different.
- With over 320,000 active users, Mintos is one of the largest P2P lending platforms in Europe.
- The Mintos buyback guarantee doesnât often cover the loss of accrued interests and it doesnât get activated before the loan repayment is delayed for more than 60 days.
- Mintos also lists loans from 70 loan originators compared to Swaper which lists only loans from Wandoo Finance.
See the below table to compare the main differences between Swaper and Mintos:
| Swaper | Mintos | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of investors: | + 4,300 | + 320,000 |
| Min. investment amount: | âŹ10 | âŹ10 |
| Protection scheme: | Buyback Guarantee (30 days + interest) | Buyback Guarantee (60 days + interest for some of the loans) |
| Average interest: | 12% | 11.96% |
| Features: | Auto Invest | Invest and Access, Mintos Investment Strategies, Auto Invest |
| Countries you can invest in: | 5 | 33 |
| Number of loan originators: | 1 | 70 |
While you can compare certain key differentiators, at the end of the day it comes down to two metrics: the availability and yield for the currently listed loans.
The historical average interest doesnât mean anything as the supply of new loans as well as their interest varies regularly.
Swaper Review Summary
Swaper is a P2P platform that is very easy to use. The loans offered on Swaper are short-term loans backed by a buyback guarantee. You might experience cash drag with Swaper as the platform's availability of loans is limited. The lack of transparency is, however, something you will experience on Swaper.
Main takeaways from our Swaper review:
- Lack of transparency
- Easy to use platform
- Responsive support
- Unsecured loans with a 30-day buyback guarantee
Does Swaper sound like your kind of platform?
Or explore other P2P platforms.
FAQ
Whatâs the minimum investment amount on Swaper?
The minimum investment in one loan is only âŹ10, which makes it very easy to achieve good diversification.
How is my investment protected?
The only protection on Swaper is the buyback guarantee. The buyback will be activated when your expected loan repayments are delayed for more than 30 days.
Is there a secondary market on Swaper?
Yes, the Secondary Market on Swaper allows you to sell your investments which increases the liquidity of your portfolio.
Does Swaper offer an Auto Invest feature?
Yes, Swaper has an Auto Invest feature which will help you automate your investment strategy based on your predefined preferences.
| Company Information | |
|---|---|
| Company: | Swaper Platform OĂ |
| Address: | Viru valjak 2, 10111, Tallinn, Estonia |
| Phone: | +372 600 0393 |
| Email: | info@swaper.com |
| Live Chat: | Yes |
| Opening Hours: | Weekdays from 9AM to 6PM |
| Social Media: | None |
