Invest in loans from one of Europe’s widest selections

On Mintos, you invest in loans by purchasing loan-backed securities called Notes. Notes are regulated financial instruments emitted by a special purpose entity within the Mintos group that acts as the issuer. To create a Set of Notes, 6-20 loans with similar properties are pooled together. The Notes are then placed on Mintos so investors can invest in them.

Each Set of Notes has a unique International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) and consists of Notes of usually €0.01 nominal value each. The minimum investment is €50, or 5 000 Notes per set you invest in. By investing in a Set of Notes, you gain indirect exposure to all underlying loans in the set proportional to the loan amount.

We offer several ways to invest in loans:

• Core Loans, a ready-to-use and completely hassle-free automated portfolio that grows your investments from day one while you get to enjoy the things you love.
• Custom Loans, an automated portfolio which invests according to criteria you set yourself and that takes a bit more time and experience.
• Selecting individual investments manually if you want to dive deep into our vast selection and handpick investments.

The return potential of a specific loan investment depends on the offered interest rate. The interest rate is primarily determined by:

• inherent risk factors of the underlying asset, including the borrower’s and the lending company’s credit risk
• market factors, including the general economic environment, general interest rate levels, alternative investment opportunities in the financial sector, and the supply and demand on Mintos

If you hold your loan investment until maturity, fluctuations in the underlying asset’s value will not affect your return. However, if you want to sell your loan investment on the Secondary Market, the price might be affected by supply and demand, as well as changes in the risk and market factors. This means the going price on the Secondary Market might be different from the purchase price you paid.

It’s important to understand investing does not offer “free lunch”. Some risk is normal and should be accepted with all kinds of investing. To help you make informed decisions about investing in loans, we evaluate investment risk on a scale from 10.0 (low risk) to 1.0 (high risk).

More about the Mintos Risk Score

The main risks of investing in loans include:

• Risks related to the underlying loan: If the borrower does not make a scheduled payment, the investor will also not receive a payment. The loan may also be repaid early, and other available investments at that time could have a lower return than initially planned.
• Risks related to the lending company: The lending company may become insolvent, become unable to service loans, or stop cooperating with Mintos. As a result, the company could fail to honor its contractual obligations, leading to not making payments or defaulting on the buyback obligation.
• Market risk: The value of the investment may decline due to events outside the control of market participants, such as an economic downturn, a financial crisis, or geopolitical events.
• Interest rate risk: Changes in both short and long-term interest rates may affect the value of financial instruments.
• Liquidity risk: Investors who want to sell their loan investment early can only do so on the Mintos Secondary Market. Mintos does not guarantee demand on the Secondary Market, nor availability of the Secondary Market as such.
• Currency risk: The value of an investment in a foreign currency may depreciate against the investor’s home currency as the exchange rate fluctuates.

You can read more about managing investment risk on our website.

Investing in loans on Mintos could be interesting for you if the following goals resonate with you:

• You want to earn regular passive income from your investments.
• You want to invest in a less volatile asset with an attractive return potential (8.8% p.a. since 2015)¹.
• You want to invest in a diversified portfolio of loans that includes many different lending companies, geographies, and sectors on a single investment platform.
• You want to diversify your traditional investment portfolio by adding loans as an alternative, less correlated asset class.

Mintos offers loan investment options that adapt to your needs. You can choose to automate your investments to save time, or dive in deep and take full control:

• Our ready-to-use portfolio, Core Loans, gets you started in minutes with minimal setup or maintenance required. It invests in a broadly diversified selection of loans according to a proprietary algorithm, and simplifies access to your money. With its full automation and dynamic diversification, Core Loans is great for passive, completely hassle-free investments.
• Our custom automation builder, Custom Loans, lets you automate your investments according to your preferences. After you enter your investment criteria, your portfolio will automatically buy matching investments. Custom Loans can be a great option for investors who want to be more active and follow market developments, while still saving time. It requires more extensive knowledge and experience in loan investing to get the best results.
• Browse our vast selection of loans on the Primary or Secondary Market, filter by 10+ specific investment criteria to explore loan investment opportunities, and take full control of your investments.

However you choose to invest, we’ve got you covered with detailed performance analytics and full mobile access.

Mintos offers great diversification opportunities. With our low entry point of just €50 and wide selection of assets, it’s easy to build a well-diversified portfolio.

• You can invest in loans from different sectors, countries, and lending companies.
• You can also diversify across multiple asset classes (such as bonds, real estate, ETFs, and Smart Cash) on a single platform.

Investing in manual loans is free. Investments with a Core Loans portfolio (or with a legacy High-yield or Conservative portfolio) are subject to an annual portfolio management fee of 0.39% (charged monthly). More about our fees

Example: Your Core Loans portfolio balance has been €1 000 for the entire month. At the end of the month, the fee is €1 000 x 0.39% / 365 x 30 = €0.32, for a total of €3.9 per year.

Investing with a Custom Loans portfolio is subject to an annual portfolio management fee of 0.29% (charged monthly).

Example: Your Custom Loans portfolio balance has been €1000 for the entire month. At the end of the month, the fee is €1 000 × 0.29% ÷ 365 × 30 = €0.24, for a total of €2.9 per year.

Both Mintos and peer-to-peer (p2p) platforms offer an accessible way to invest in loans. However, there are some important differences:

• Nature of the investment: On Mintos, investors buy financial instruments (loan-backed securities called Notes) that are subject to the same regulation as other financial instruments such as stocks or bonds. On p2p platforms, investors typically lend money directly to individuals or businesses, or invest in loans issued by the platform itself.
• License: Mintos is a licensed investment firm supervised by Latvijas Banka, the central bank of Latvia. P2p platforms may or may not be licensed and supervised, depending on the platform.
• Diversification and risk management: On Mintos, investors can diversify across multiple sectors, countries, and lending companies. Loans also come with a buyback obligation, meaning the lending company has to repurchase the loan if the borrower is significantly late in payments. On p2p platforms, risk tends to be more concentrated, as the platforms are much smaller and often only operate in specific markets. Available recovery mechanisms can vary by platform.
• Liquidity: Mintos offers a Secondary Market, allowing investors to sell their loan investments before maturity. In p2p investing, liquidity options depend on the platform, and investors may have to wait until maturity to access their money.

More frequently asked questions

To get started, first create your free account. Simply click Create account on our website or in the Mintos app and follow these easy steps:

1. Choose your account type – individual or company.
2. Fill in your personal or company details, provide an email address where we can contact you, and select your country of residence.
3. Choose a password.

That’s it, you’ve created an account! Before you start investing, there’s a few more things you need to do, such as answering some questions about your investment goals or topping up your account. But don’t worry, we’ll guide you every step of the way.