Mintos Review🎖️ Is Mintos Safe?

Mintos Review

With over 477,000 registered investors, Mintos is the largest P2P lending marketplace in Europe. Since 2015, Mintos paid out more than €170 M in interest to investors like you. Your investments are protected by the 60-day buyback obligation. Wondering whether Mintos is for you? Learn more about our opinion in this Mintos review.

Mintos’ User Requirements

In order to invest on Mintos, you’ll need to fit with a couple of their requirements such as:

No EUR bank account? No problem

• 💳 Open a free N26 bank account
• 💳 Open a free Wise bank account

You can transfer your money in nine different currencies but we suggest you transfer your funds in EUR to avoid any conversion fees.

Mintos allows you to invest in different currencies. Note, however, that this increases the foreign exchange exposure.

The cheapest way to transfer funds to your Mintos account is by SEPA transfer.

If you’re from the UK and want to invest in European P2P lending platforms, have a look at our EstateGuru review and PeerBerry review as Mintos doesn't accept investors from the UK at the moment.

Risk and Return

Your goal is to earn money right? Our goal is to help you understand the risks!

Let's have a look at some factors that you should keep in mind.

Loan Types

While Mintos promotes various loan types, the majority of loans on Mintos are short-term, personal or car loans.

In fact, almost two-thirds of loans on Mintos are short-term loans, otherwise known as micro or payday loans.

Those loans usually have a short-term max. 90 days.

Note that short-term loans are riskier than mortgage-backed loans as the default rates can be up to 40%, depending on the country and the lending company.

Mintos also lists mortgage, business, and agricultural loans as well as invoice financing. Those loan types are, however, barely available. You can invest in secured real estate loans on EstateGuru or in business loans on Debitum Network. Keen to invest in secured agricultural loans? Head over to our Heavy Finance review.

Mintos’ Broad Diversification Options

Mintos’ popularity stems from the variety of loan originators it offers.

In theory, you can invest in 70 loan originators from 34 countries. 

In reality, the supply of loans from different loan originators varies constantly. There are currently just a few established loan originators that you should consider investing into.

Note that on Mintos it's the number of loans rather than the quality that helps you minimize your risks. Many bigger financial groups operate multiple lending companies in various developing countries.

Keep in mind, that there is a direct correlation between the lending companies and that if one lender with a group defaults, it significantly increases the risks for other lending companies within the same group. 

Many financial groups on Mintos offer the "group guarantee" which should cover the obligation from a defaulting lender. This is, however, not really the case as we have seen last year with the suspension of Varks in Armenia and the fall of the Finko Group. 

As an educated investor, you should keep in mind that several lending partners have the same shareholders as Mintos. The P2P marketplace is therefore providing funding for many payday loan providers owned by the same shareholders. This conflict of interest may have a negative effect on your investments on Mintos. Currently, more than 50% of "funds in recovery" are funds from lenders that are connected to Mintos' shareholders.

Mintos’ Buyback Obligation

Another feature worth mentioning is their buyback obligation. If you invest in loans with a buyback guarantee, your investments will be repurchased by the lending company after it's delayed for more than 60 days.

This seems to be just a promise as lending companies don't honor this buyback obligation (previously called buyback guarantee).

Note, however, that lending companies might exploit this in their favor. Instead of activating the buyback obligation, the lending company can simply extend the loan term up to 6 months.

This isn't the rule but we have seen this before.

One detail you should know is that not all Mintos lending companies pay interest for delayed loans. That's not the case with other P2P lending platforms.

Mintos Loan Originators

One of our favorite features on Mintos is the loan originator section.

Very few P2P lending platforms give you as many details about their loan originators as Mintos does. You can learn about:

🤔 Should You Trust Mintos Lender Ratings?

You can analyze every single loan originator or simply exclude countries, which will automatically eliminate loan originators that operate in high-risk locations. Head over to our Mintos Auto Invest guide to learn more about our strategy.

In terms of returns, you can expect to earn around 9.94% interest per year during normal market conditions. The net return for 2020 was at 0.95% for "well-diversified" portfolios as many risks materialized.

The return of your portfolio is highly dependent on the current interest for the available loans.

Note that Mintos is a huge platform with more than 450,000 investors.

The availability of high-interest loans is changing constantly.

We manage to earn higher net annual returns from microloans on PeerBerry (10.48%) and Robocash (11%).

Risk of Losing Your Money

Are you afraid of losing your money?

When investing on Mintos, you have a contract with the borrower instead of the lending company. That's your legal document that, in theory, protects your investments.

Mintos is already planning to issue "Mintos Notes" which will replace the assignment agreements within the next year. Mintos "Notes" are simply a group of 6 to 12 loans with similar characteristics bundled together and promoted as a financial instrument. Keep in mind that the default risk of "Notes" is no different as with the "old" loan assignments.

How does this document protect your rights?

It doesn't.

If a lending company goes bust, you should write off your investments as the chance of retrieving anything is very slim, unless Mintos manages to recover some of the funds.

Mintos provides you with user agreements that you should read to fully understand your rights and the protection of your investment.

• If the borrower stops paying back the loan, the loan originator will take over the debt collection.
• If the loan originator goes out of business, such as in the case of Eurocent or Aforti Finance, Mintos will take over the legal work and help investors get their money back.
• If Mintos goes bankrupt, a third-party law firm will take over the management of outstanding payments from the loan originators to the investors.
• You can withdraw your uninvested money anytime.

That's at least how it should work.

Mintos Recoveries

Mintos does regularly share updates of the current developments of their recoveries. While there are currently still over €67 M in recovery, Mintos seems to be lowering this amount every month, which is something many investors will appreciate.

Is Mintos Safe?

That's what we're going to address in this section.

Let's have a look at the safety of your investments on Mintos.

Who Runs the Company?

Mintos is run by its Co-founder and CEO Martins Sulte. Martins has been leading the company since its inception back in 2015. He also worked for six years at the SEB investment bank as a financial analyst.

The platform was co-founded by Martins Valters, who is currently the COO and CFO of Mintos.

Both gentlemen gathered valuable experiences at Ernst & Young before launching their platform.

Watch our P2P talk with the CEO and co-founder of Mintos to get insights about the current developments of the platform and lessons learned from 2020.

Who is the Company’s Legal Owner?

Mintos is funded by four angel investors, which are also shareholders of the company.

Here is the list of the main shareholders of Mintos:

• Maris Keiss (co-founder of 4finance and Mogo)
• Aigars Kesenfelds (co-founder of 4finance and Eleving Group [former Mogo] and owner of several loan originators)
• Kristaps Ozos (co-founder of 4finance and Eleving Group [former Mogo]
• Alberts Pole (co-founder of 4finance and Eleving Group [former Mogo]
• Martins Sulte - CEO Mintos (decision maker)
• Martins Valters - CFO / COO
• Employees through stock options

Note that Mogo has been renamed to "Eleving Group" in mid-2021.

👉 Conduct Your Own Due Diligence

Are There Any Suspicious Terms and Conditions?

We have read through Mintos’s 13 page long terms and conditions, and we have not spotted any suspicious or unclear clauses.

If you aren’t entirely familiar with how Mintos works, there are a few clauses that we have pointed out for you:

Clause 4.4 - Safety of Your Funds

Your funds on Mintos are stored in Mintos’s accounts, which are segregated from the platform’s operational accounts.

The main point here is that Mintos does not use your funds to pay for its own expenses.

Clause 4.10 - Withdrawals in Two Days

If you request to withdraw funds, Mintos needs to transfer your money within two business days.

Most platforms reserve up to five business days. Mintos is one of the fastest-paying P2P lending sites.

We regularly test this feature and our money is on our bank account within a few hours.

Clause 6.2 - Read the T&C Before Using Mintos' Tools

You should know that if you decide to use any of Mintos’ investment tools such as Auto Invest or Invest & Access (Investment Strategies), you accept all the terms and responsibilities that come with it.

Both mentioned tools invest in loans with certain characteristics.

We suggest getting familiar with the tools before using them. You will find more info about those tools in our next section about the platform's usability.

If you automate your investments on Mintos you are accepting all the terms and conditions of the lending companies.

Have a look at individual lending companies before you invest your money on Mintos.

Clause 6.8 - Amendments

Mintos can amend the terms and conditions of an assignment agreement without your approval.

Those amendments shall not affect already concluded agreements and they should not put the user in a disadvantageous position compared to the earlier version of the agreement.

According to our understanding of the terms, Mintos does not honor this clause as the P2P marketplace introduced loan extensions for already concluded agreements that put the users in a disadvantageous position.

It’s hard to imagine that any regulator would allow those practices in a regulated market.

Clause 6.11 - Risk of Default

P2P lending is risky, and even though Mintos is one of the most popular platforms out there, there is no guarantee that you won’t lose any of your money.

In section 6.11, Mintos particularly mentions that the platform isn’t liable for any losses caused by your automated investment strategies.

Clause 7.4 - Pending Payments

In section 7.4, Mintos describes the flow of money between the borrower, loan originator, Mintos, and the investor.

Mintos only adds money to your account when the platform has received the repayments from the lending company.

The repayments are transferred in bulk twice a week.

If you happen to see pending payments in your investor account, it means that the loan originator will send the money within the next few days. Afterward, the money will be added to your account.

Clause 7.6 - Liability of Loan Originators

You should know that the loan originator isn’t obliged to repay the defaulted loan.

This is one of the risk factors that you should be aware of before investing in loans.

Most of the loans aren’t backed by any collateral, and the buyback guarantee will only kick in if the loan originator has enough money to cover it.

In certain cases, the loan originator doesn't respect its obligations towards the investors and refuses to repay the money while still operating in the lending market.

Clause 12.4 - Mintos' Due Diligence

Mintos is monitoring the performance of its loan originators. However, there is no guarantee that the information Mintos has access to is reliable and accurate.

Mintos is listing loan originators in 33 different countries.

The reporting standards in those countries vary, which means that Mintos won’t be able to track every loan originator with the same quality.

You should be aware of this risk, as most of the issues with Mintos are caused by lending companies losing their license or going out of business.

Clause 12.7 - Risk & Suspensions

In section 12.7, Mintos states that neither the platform nor the loan originator has to compensate you for the claim.

You carry the default risk, not the loan originator or the platform.

Mintos is certainly not the best P2P marketplace when it comes to monitoring the performance of their loan originators. 

Clause 12.5 - Liability

Mintos is also informing its users that they aren’t liable for any loss that occurs from your investment activities on the platform.

This is a standard clause, used by all P2P lending sites.

Mintos’s primary business isn’t providing loans; it’s simply connecting investors with loan companies.

This means that in case the loan originator goes out of business, it might have reputational damage on Mintos. However, it won’t directly put the platform at risk.

Curious about what else we look at when conducting our research?

With our ✅ Due Diligence Checklist workbook, you will be able to spot red flags 🚩 and protect your investment.

Protect Your Money!

Get Your Checklist

Usability of Mintos

P2P lending sites tend to get very complex as new features are being developed and you want to invest in an easy-to-use platform right?

Mintos has plenty of features that will help you to automate your investments such as the Mintos Auto Invest, Invest, and Access or Mintos Investment Strategies.

Let's have a look at some of Mintos' features.

Mintos Strategies (former Invest & Access)

The new Mintos Strategies comes with three different options. The diversified strategy, conservative strategy, and high-yield strategy.

If we would have to "recommend" a strategy, the "conservative strategy" would make the most sense, as Mintos is considering the portfolio quality of the lending company, which is by far the most important factor that has a direct impact on the performance of your portfolio.

The Mintos Strategies are made for investors who are looking for a quick way to invest. Most of the strategies come with a tradeoff - you are not able to fully control the diversification of your portfolio. This disadvantage can be solved with a custom strategy - which is something most experienced investors are using on Mintos.

Mintos Auto Invest - Custom Strategy

This feature is really great. If you know how to use it.

The functionality of the Mintos Auto Invest is relying on the current market conditions, which is why you shouldn’t just set up once, but monitor the supply and demands for investment opportunities and adjust your settings regularly.

Setting up your Mintos Auto Invest is a more advanced topic, which is why we have created a dedicated guide where you will learn all there is to know to create your own Mintos Auto Invest strategy.

The automated custom strategy on Mintos allows you to take full control over the diversification of your portfolio which is beneficial if you are investing large sums of money.

Mintos allows you to define the following criteria:

As you can tell, the Custom Automated Strategy comes with a lot of options.

After you have "fine-tuned" your settings, don't forget to click on "show matching results" to see how many loans match your criteria. If you are happy with the selection then accept the terms and save your settings.

Keep in mind that the loan availability on Mintos is fluctuating and that if your settings are too strict, you can suffer from cash drag (uninvested funds) as your settings won't match any available loans.

Are you wondering how Mintos compares to Bondora? Check out our latest comparison Mintos vs Bondora.

Mintos Loan Extensions

Mintos increased the number of possible loan extensions to six back in 2020. This means that the loan originator can keep increasing the loan term up to 6 months.

That's NO good!

As you might need to sell your investments on the secondary market in case they get extended and you want to withdraw your cash earlier than in six months.

Mintos Buybacks

Every loan originator on Mintos can buy back your loans at any time and re-list them on the platform for a lower interest.

This is how it works:

A rather shady practice right? We don't like this either as it lowers our returns.

How Fast Can You Withdraw Your Money?

It depends on the market conditions and the tools you use.

Selling on The Secondary Market

If you invest on Mintos manually or have invested in long-term loans via Mintos Auto Invest, you can sell your investments on the secondary market.

This is recommended if you want to withdraw your funds before the end of the loan period.

Note that Mintos has reintroduced a 0.85% fee for investors who wants to sell their investments on the secondary market.

Although we don’t typically trade on the secondary market, it’s certainly a benefit that will help with your liquidity on Mintos, if you manage to find buyers.

We have liquidated most of our Mintos portfolio in June 2020 within 14 days. The total price for the secondary market fee and the discount was between 1% and 1.5%.

This means that the liquidity of your portfolio on Mintos is rather high (if the lender in which you have invested is not suspended). Mintos is also processing all the withdrawal requests within two business days. 

Cash Out with the Mintos Strategies

If you use one of the three automated strategies, you withdraw your money anytime, as long as there are enough investors using the same strategy. Note that this is highly dependent on the market situation.

If none of the investors have this strategy enabled, you won't be able to cash out as no one will buy your investments. Note that you can still sell them on the secondary market.

Keep in mind that if a lending company is suspended, you won't be able to sell your stake if you have invested in its loan book.

Are you wondering how Mintos compares to PeerBerry? Check out our latest comparison Mintos vs PeerBerry.

Mintos Review Summary

Mintos is the market leader when it comes to P2P investing in Europe. Nevertheless, the P2P lending site isn’t always able to protect investors’ interests. If you decide to invest on Mintos, you should have prior experience with P2P lending and pick the best loan originators. 

Key takeaways from our Mintos review:

• Lower return as on other platforms
• Broad diversification options
• Many new lenders from emerging markets
• Only suitable for experienced P2P investors

If you are thinking about joining Mintos, you should do in-depth due diligence about their lending companies before you invest your money.

One consideration would be to invest in loans from IUTE, Delfin Group or Eleving Group if you are happy with the expected returns.

Not convinced by Mintos? Check out these Mintos alternatives.