Debitum Network Review
Debitum Network is a Latvian P2B lending marketplace. You can invest in business loans backed by a personal guarantee, collateral, or a buyback guarantee. Since 2018 more than 3,267 active investors earned over €977,000 by investing on Debitum Network. Is Debitum safe? Find out in our Debitum Network review.
Pros
- No loss of capital for P2P investors so far
- Intuitive investment platform
- Regulated in Latvia
Cons
- The community founded Debitum through a Token Generation Event (TGE), and the platform didn't honor its plans to develop usability for the DEB token
- Limited diversification
- No secondary market
Debitum Network Bonus
If you’ve invested on a P2P lending platform before, you might be familiar with their cashback bonuses. Usually, you can use a special promo or referral code to receive a sign-up bonus. Often you’ll need to deposit and invest a certain amount of money to claim your bonus, which is also the case with Debitum Network.
1% Cashback Bonus
If you sign up on Debitum with the link below, you will get a 1% investment bonus on your invested amount during the first 60 days after your registration.
Ready to invest on Debitum Network?
Debitum Network Requirements
You can sign-up on Debitum Network as a private investor or as a company. The only requirements are that you’re over the age of 18 and you have a bank account in your name.
During the registration, you'll need to provide:
- Copy of your ID or passport
- Information about your financial situation
- Email address
Transferring Funds
You must pass the verification process to transfer funds to your account. Debitum Network accepts funds only in EUR. We suggest using bank transfers as there are no fees connected to SEPA payments.
No EUR bank account? No problem
Deposit only €50 and start earning interest right away!
Risk and Return
When evaluating P2P lending platforms, we always look at the securities the borrowers, loan originators, and the platform itself provides.
Debitum Network offers investments in financial instruments that include business loans and invoice financing. The new investment vehicles are also called Asset-Backed Securities (ABS).
What is ABS?
An asset-backed security (ABS) is a financial instrument backed by a pool of loans. Debitum created the ABS to ensure investors a fixed-term, fixed-income instrument. It's worth noting that all ABS come with a buyback guarantee, as it was the case in the past with investments in loans.
The pool of loans (ABS) on Debitum always has the same characteristics. It could be just loans categorized as factoring, trade finance, business loans or car leasing. While the category is identical, there can be differences in maturity and nominal values (loan amount).
Have a look at this graphic that explains what an ABS is.
The reason why Debitum (and many others) have moved from "claim rights in loans" to "asset-backed securities/notes", were the requirements by the Latvian regulator. The local regulation introduced new rules for P2P lending marketplaces which meant that those companies now have to switch to a different investment structure that offers investments in financial instruments. Apart from the fact that the platform is now "regulated" in Latvia, there is no significant increase in safety. Investors are still exposed to default risks due to non-performing assets.
Loan Originators
Debitum is a P2P marketplace or, better P2B (peer-to-business) marketplace, which means that the platform offers financial instruments (pool of loans) from various lenders.
Those loan companies are handpicked and closely monitored by Debitum Network.
In fact, Debitum Network claims to vet its applicants so thoroughly that only 10% are accepted to list their loans on the platform.
Working with loan originators will bring additional risks to your investments which are hard to evaluate from your perspective.
Debitum Network collaborates with four loan originators at the moment:
- Chain Finance from Lithuania
- Evergreen Capital from Estonia
- Flexidea from Latvia
- Triple Dragon from the UK
If you want more information about each loan originator, just head to the loan originator section at the footer of the platform and select the company you’re interested in.
Note that the availability of financial instruments from individual loan originators is subject to change.
So what's so special about Debitum Network?
In fact, Debitum Network is the only P2P lending site that could spot a lending company's poor performance and act on it before it went out of business. This cannot be said about Viventor or Mintos.
The protection of your P2P investments is Debitum's top priority.
The platform's biggest strength is the monitoring of its loan originators. Debitum uses third-party risk assessors such as Scorify, Coface, and CRIF as well as their own internal analysis to review and monitor the performance of your investments.
Buyback Guarantee
A buyback guarantee protects the majority of loans listed on Debitum Network that the loan originator provides.
How does Debitum Network’s buyback guarantee work?
Suppose the borrower is late with the loan payment by more than the agreed number of days (which is usually 90). In that case, the loan originator repurchases your claim against the borrower for the remaining principal, alongside the outstanding interest.
Additionally, if the loan repayment is late by more than the grace period (which is typically 15 days), you are eligible to receive a penalty rate on top of the interest.
Meaning the buyback guarantee covers loan principal, accrued interest, and late penalty fee.
Additionally, all the financial instruments are secured by some additional collateral, which means that the risk for you should, in theory, be lower than investments in unsecured personal loans on platforms like Mintos, PeerBerry, or Robocash.
While this is all promising, there are downsides to investing in this platform.
Debitum Network usually lists loans with an interest of 8-12%, and a loan term of up to two years, and as we conduct this review. Keep in mind that the loan availability can fluctuate and that there is no secondary market.
As we’re sure you’re well aware: lower risk often results in lower returns. That’s something you should always keep in mind when investing in P2P loans.
Is Debitum Network Safe?
You should do your due diligence when choosing a new P2P lending platform.
Why?
Well, you only have to look at the short-lived platforms Kuetzal and Envestio to see what can go wrong when you don’t do your research...
We dug a bit deeper than most financial bloggers when doing our Debitum Network due diligence, and this is what we found:
Who owns Debitum Network?
Debitum Network is founded by three Co-Founders Martins Libert, Donatas Juodelis and Justas Šaltinis.
All of them are connected to the Latvian factoring company Factris, which acquired another invoicing company Debifo back at the beginning of 2019.
Debifo was also one of the loan originators listed on Mintos. You can view their old financial reports before the acquisition with Factris, here.
Martins is still the Director of Inntec which is a software company that helped build the technology for the P2P lending platform Debitum Network.
According to the Latvian business registry, Factris and Inntec are located at the same address and neither have any secured debt.
According to the LinkedIn profile of the co-founders Donatas Juodelis and Justas Saltinis, they are no longer active in the development of the Debitum Network.
The third co-founder Martins Liberts is popular for its interviews and talks about blockchain within the finance industry.
Who leads Debitum Network?
Are There any Suspicious Terms & Conditions?
Debitum Network allows you to view its terms and conditions as well as the assignment agreement before signing up.
We looked through the contract to see if we could spot any red flags. Here is a quick overview of what we've found:
NB: While we have read many P2P lending contracts and are experts in this field, it’s worth noting we’re not trained in law and don’t provide any financial or legal consultation.
Clause 10.11. - Deduction of Your Funds
The above clause is vague. We’re not sure under which circumstances a user would cause loss to the platform, to other users and to originators.
Clause 10.3. - Risk of Default
As expected, the terms include a clause warning that they could lose all their invested funds.
Clause 4.6. - Storage of Funds
A rather positive clause is 4.6. Debitum Network clearly explains that users’ funds are saved on segregated bank accounts. In case the platform goes out of business, you should be able to access their funds as they aren’t connected to the company.
Clause 14.3 - T&C cannot be changed without prior notice
If you have read our guide about how not to get scammed by P2P lending platforms, you know that reserving the right to change the T&C without prior notice is a big RED FLAG.
Luckily Debitum Network isn't one of those platforms. The P2P lending site gives you 10 days to review and accept the new terms and conditions.
Mintos has the same setup when it comes to changing T&C. Unfortunately, Mintos isn't very good in honoring it.
Potential Red Flags
- Debitum raised millions from investors through the DEB token to fund the development of the platform. None of the funds were ever returned.
What's our opinion about Debitum Network?
We tested Debitum Network in the spring of 2020 for 12 months. Our investment in the platform has always performed well, and we did not experience any defaulted loans.
The platform does an excellent job of monitoring the performance of its lending companies.
Based on our recent conversation with Debitum's founder Martins Liberts, we are convinced that Debitum Network is a good fit for P2P investors looking to invest in secured business loans.
Currently, we don't have any exposure on Debitum Network.
Do you enjoy this review? Invite us for a coffee ☕
Debitum Network’s Usability
Debitum Network's platform is straightforward to use.
Due to the change in investment structure, the platform's Auto Invest is currently inactive.
To invest in asset-backed securities on Debitum, you must invest manually.
Investing manually on Debitum is simple. Just navigate to the primary market ("Invest") via the navigation on the top of the page and select one of the financial instruments.
What's worth mentioning is that most of the ABS are paying interest every month, which improves your cash flow.
>Click on individual ABS to review further information or invest in them directly.
Enter your investment amount (min. €50) and confirm your investment action.
Your investments will be shown under "My Investment" view in your dashboard. Now you can lean back and track the performance of your ABS.
Debitum's ICO and the DEB Token
More experienced investors know that Debitum Network has participated in a Token Generation Event. The platform sold DEB Tokens (utility tokens) to contributors. The funds from this fundraising event were used to build the platform and expand the business.
According to Debitum’s white paper, the platform aimed to solve the credit gap for SMEs. The founder confirmed that the platform still follows this goal.
If you want to learn more about the ICO and the utility plans for the DEB token, we suggest watching our entire P2P talk.
🧾Does Debitum Network deduct taxes?
Debitum withholds 20% tax from your earnings from asset-backed-securities.
To apply for the option not to have taxes withheld from your interest payments for five years, you must complete the Tax verification step in your profile.
- Download Residence Certificate-Application for Tax Relieves form provided on the Debitum platform in the "My Account" section under the "Tax Residency" tab
- Fill in the marked fields in light blue (you need to fill only sections I-IV)
- Print and sign the form
- Upload scan or photo of the form on the Debitum platform
- You will need to provide a document that proves you are a tax resident of your country. The document must have your name, surname, personal code, taxation year, and confirmation that you are a tax resident.
After you have provided all documentation, you will be relieved from taxes for five years. For further information, please consult your local tax expert.
How Fast Can You Withdraw Your Money?
Before signing up to a platform, you should know how long it would take to withdraw your entire portfolio.
While Mintos or Bondora's Go & Grow offer you excellent liquidity with their Invest and Access or Go & Grow products during normal market conditions, most platforms don’t.
So, how does it work on Debitum Network?
For starters, no secondary market on Debitum Network would allow you to sell your investments to other investors.
Unless you have enough DEB tokens to liquidate your investments.
Instead, you can only withdraw your money from the platform if you’re at the end of the loan term, you receive early repayment, or if the buyback guarantee kicks in.
The loan period on Debitum Network ranges from only a few days to up to two years, and two years is quite a long time to wait if you want to withdraw your money earlier than initially planned.
Having no access to early withdrawals should not be a k.o. criteria, as most your goal as a P2B investor should be to invest long-term on Debitum Network.
Support
Debitum Network's extensive FAQ section will answer most of your questions. If you can’t find the answers, you can contact them via email at support@debitum.network.
We tested the support of Debitum Network on several occasions. The support is very responsive when it comes to answering questions regarding the usage of the platform.
Addressing more in-depth questions takes more time.
Debitum Network Review Summary
Debitum Network is an attractive P2B marketplace that is very easy to use. The performance of Debitum's loans is better than on many other peer-to-peer platforms. Our experience with Debitum has been positive so far. The platform is regulated by the Latvian regulators, which increases the trust in the platform's services.
Main takeaways from our Debitum Network review:
- Excellent due diligence and monitoring of lending companies
- Easy-to-use platform
- Suitable for conservative investors
- Transparent communication
If your goal is to invest long-term with a P2B marketplace that puts your interests first, you will be pleased with Debitum Network.
Ready to invest on Debitum Network?
FAQs
Is Debitum Network safe?
According to Debitum’s customer support, none of the P2P investors have ever lost any money. The loan originators repurchased all the delayed loans.
Is there a sign-up bonus for new investors?
New investors on Debitum Network, that sign-up with our referral link will receive a 1% cashback bonus on their investment within 60 days after registration.
Does Debitum Network offer a buyback guarantee?
All ABS on Debitum Network are secured by a 90-day buyback guarantee. Investors will receive the remaining principal, penalty fee, and accrued interest.
How do I invest on Debitum Network?
If you are over 18 years old and hold a European bank account, you can register on Debitum Network. You will need to answer a few questions and verify your identity during the registration process. Then, you can start investing with as little as €50 in a single loan!
