Swaper Review (March 2024 Update): See Pros & Cons (2024)

Is Swaper a great platform for P2P lending? Find out in our Swaper review below:

Swaper

Pros:

• 60-day buyback guarantee on loans
• A secondary market is available
• Auto-invest is available
• No investment fees
• Swaper mobile app is available
• Stable returns
• +2% loyalty bonus if you invest over €25,000 for 3 months

Cons:

• Only available in Europe
• Only two different loan originators
• The platform is not regulated
• Periodical cash drag

Review summary:

Swaper provides high returns for European P2P investors wanting to invest in short-term loans. The features of the platform are very well executed and you will quickly learn how to use the platform. You can use auto-invest to invest passively and if you find better investment opportunities elsewhere, you can simply sell your loans. Of the drawbacks, Swaper is only available in Europe and the loans are all from Wandoo Finance Group and One Leasing.

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At P2PPlatforms.com, we strive to list only the absolute best companies in the P2P industry. Where appropriate, we also feature our partners. This doesn’t influence our evaluations. All opinions are our own.

Introduction to our Swaper review

Are you considering investing via Swaper? Then read on. We’ve written this Swaper.com review to help investors determine if Swaper is the right choice for them.

Below you will find an overview of the things that we will discuss more in detail in this Swaper review. Simply click on the links to jump directly to the thing you want to know more about.

Learn about this in our Swaper review:

• What is Swaper?
• Key features
• Who can use Swaper?
• How safe is Swaper?
• Our experience with Swaper
• Swaper reviews on Trustpilot
• Best Swaper alternatives
• Conclusion of our Swaper review

What is Swaper?

Swaper is a Peer-to-Peer lending platform that makes it possible for European investors to invest in short-term unsecured consumer loan markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

The loans are secured by Swaper’s BuyBack guarantee – a key feature that will be explained later in this review.

Swaper launched in October 2016, and since then a lot of loans have been funded on the platform:

At the time being, over 5,761 investors are actively investing and have earned over 5.7 million euros in combined interest.

With as little as €10, you can open an account and start investing at https://www.swaper.com/.If you invest over €25,000 for over 3 months, you will get a +2% loyalty bonus on all your investments.

Swaper statistics:

How Swaper works:

Swaper operates as an innovative P2P lending marketplace, primarily facilitating investments in loans issued by Wandoo Finance Group and Onegroup. Interestingly, Wandoo is not only a key loan originator on the platform but also the driving force behind Swaper itself. This relationship underscores a unique integration between the loan issuer and the investment platform.

At its core, Swaper functions by listing loans issued by Wandoo and One Leasing. Once Wandoo or One Leasing issues a loan and it’s listed on Swaper, you as an investor have the opportunity to invest in these loans and potentially earn interest on your investment. The platform offers a range of loans with different terms and interest rates, catering to diverse investment strategies and risk appetites. This setup creates a dynamic environment where individual investors can selectively invest in a variety of loans.

Wandoo operates in several countries, including Spain and Poland, and primarily focuses on consumer loans. These loans typically range from €50 to €1800 and offer returns between 12-16%. On the other hand, One Leasing, based in North Macedonia, specializes in financial leasing for vehicles, both new and used. Their loan offerings can go up to €15,000, with returns for investors in the range of 8-12%.

The investment process on Swaper is streamlined and user-friendly, allowing for a broad spectrum of investors to participate, from novices to seasoned veterans in the P2P lending sphere.

Each loan on Swaper comes with a detailed profile, including information about the borrower, the loan amount, interest rate, and repayment term. This transparency allows you to make informed decisions about where to allocate your funds. Additionally, Swaper provides features like auto-invest, which automates the investment process based on your predefined criteria, saving time and simplifying your investment strategy.

Furthermore, Swaper enhances investor confidence with a buyback guarantee. This guarantee, offered by both Wandoo Finance Group and One Leasing, ensures that if a borrower defaults on a loan, the platform will buy back the investment, including accrued interest, thus mitigating the risk of loss for investors. This feature is particularly appealing to those cautious about the risk of borrower default, making Swaper a more secure option in the P2P lending market.

The team

The following are some of the key team members of Swaper:

Indrek Puolokainen
CEO

Marina Tjulinova
Head of operations

Based on past experiences found on LinkedIn, the team has experience both inside and outside of the finance industry.

Frequently asked questions:

Key features

We have already taken a look at some of the reasons why Swaper has become a popular choice among investors. In the following, we take a closer look at some of the key features that make it great to invest via the platform:

1. Swaper BuyBack guarantee

All loans at Swaper come with a 60-day BuyBack guarantee.

Simply explained, the BuyBack guarantee is a guarantee to the investors that they will be compensated if a loan can’t be repaid.

If a loan can’t be repaid, you will be compensated for the amount you have invested in a particular loan. You will also be compensated for the interest you would have earned in the period you had the loan.

BuyBack is activated if the borrower is more than 60 days late with the loan repayment.

What you should know about BuyBack guarantees is the fact that they are only as solid as the ones behind them. This means that if Swaper/Wandoo goes out of business, you probably won’t be compensated as there is no one to buy back the delayed loans.

Therefore, you should never invest all your funds in a single loan – diversification is key.

2. Swaper auto-invest

Swaper provides an auto-invest tool allowing investors to automate their loan investments based on specific criteria. This feature can be customized according to individual investment goals and preferences, such as the loan amount, term, and interest rate.

How to use the auto-invest tool on Swaper:

1. Go to https://www.swaper.com/
2. Log in to your account (or sign up)
3. Head to “Overview”
4. Click “Create Portfolio”

From here, you can make an auto-invest portfolio that suits your investment goals. You can set up criteria for this feature to make it invest precisely as you want it to:

We recommend that you set the maximum in one loan low to be diversified between many loans.

It can also be a good idea to activate reinvest to invest automatically without having to check back all the time.

If you want to know more about auto-investing, you can find more information on Swaper’s website.

3. Swaper mobile app

Swaper has a mobile app that enables investors to manage their investments, track earnings, and adjust account settings on the go. The app has been well-received, with over 5,000 downloads and a high rating from users, although it had some issues in the past.

Features of the Swaper app:

• Create auto-invest portfolios
• Keep track of your investments
• View your transactions
• Receive push notifications
• Adjust account settings

The app is available for both Android and iOS.

4. Swaper secondary market

Another great feature provided by Swaper is the secondary market. This allows you to sell your loans ahead of maturity.

To sell a loan on Swaper’s secondary market, you can follow this simple process:

1. Go to https://www.swaper.com/
2. Log in to your account
3. Head to “My Investments”
4. Click on a loan you want to sell
5. Enter the amount you want to sell and hit “Sell” (see below)

You can choose to sell the full amount or just a part of your loan.

The fact that you can sell your loans before they are fully paid back is very useful as it allows you to move your funds to other investments if you find better investment opportunities at a later point in time.

However, you must be aware that some loans can’t be sold before a specific date if you have already received interest for the loan in advance:

Currently, there is no fee for selling loans on the secondary market at Swaper which is a clear benefit compared to many other P2P lending platforms.

On the website, it is even stated that “The sale of loans on the secondary market is a subject which may change in the future.”:

5. Swaper loyalty bonus of +2%

To reward larger investors, Swaper has introduced a loyalty bonus. So if you invest more than 25,000 euros on the platform for over 3 months, you will get VIP status and get an additional +2% on all your investments.

However, before you will be able to receive VIP status and the loyalty bonus it is required that you invest the amount for at least 3 months.

Compared to other companies in the industry, Swaper has the most rewarding loyalty programs for the least amount of money.

You won’t need a Swaper promo code or affiliate link to get the bonus. All you have to do is meet the requirements for the VIP status.

Who can use Swaper?

Both private persons and companies can invest via Swaper.

Private person

If you want to invest as a private person, you must at least meet the following requirements:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Have a bank account in the European Economic Area (EEA)
• Be a resident in the EEA (either as a citizen, taxpayer or with a residence permit)

If you live up to these requirements, you can create an account at https://www.swaper.com/.

Companies

If you run a company, you can also invest via Swaper. All you have to do to create an account for your business is to select “Company” when signing up.

From here, you will simply have to follow the sign-up process. If you are in doubt about anything, you can just reach out to the support team. You can find the information here.

Available countries

Investing is possible on Swaper in all of the European Economic Area. Currently, there are only active investors from the countries marked in red below:

As you can see, it is also possible to invest via Swaper if you live in the UK. Here, you can use GBP instead of EUR to make transfers to the platform and still avoid any money transfer fees from Swaper (your bank itself might have some fees).

If you don’t transfer money to the platform with EUR or GBP, you will probably have to pay a higher transfer fee.

How safe is Swaper?

To determine if Swaper is safe, we have taken a look at some of the potential upsides and downsides of investing via the platform.

1. Swaper profitability

According to the CEO of Wandoo Finance Group, Iveta Bruvele, both Swaper and Wandoo became profitable in 2019 after having been unprofitable the year before. In 2019 the net profit from the reporting year ended up being €404,233 for Swaper, according to the statement of income in theirfinancial report.

In the following two years 2020 and 2021, the platform remained in profit despite a challenging market with Covid-19 and the profit has since been on the rise. Here is an overview of the historic profitability of the Swaper:

• 2019:Net profit of €404,233
• 2020:Net profit of €88,979
• 2021:Net profit of €114,478
• 2022:Net profit of €130,477

It is a huge plus that Swaper is transparent about its financials, as a great business lowers the bankruptcy risk. You can find the most recent financial reports in the “About”-section of Swaper’s website.

2. Main risks

In the following, we go through some of the main risks of using Swaper that we have considered:

Loan default risk

When you venture into the world of peer-to-peer lending, one of the foremost concerns is the potential risk associated with borrowers failing to repay their loans. Swaper is addressing this concern through the BuyBack guarantee which is a feature designed to safeguard your investments against loan default risks.

With Swaper, you have the option to invest in loans that come with a BuyBack guarantee, a feature that provides an extra layer of security. The BuyBack guarantee means that the loan originator is required to buy back the loan if it becomes more than 60 days overdue.

A thing you must be aware of with the BuyBack guarantee is that it is dependent on the financial stability of the loan originator. If the loan originator experiences financial difficulties or goes bankrupt, the BuyBack guarantee might become ineffective, leaving your investment exposed.

While the BuyBack guarantee offers valuable protection, investors should conduct thorough due diligence on the loan originators Swaper collaborates with to assess their financial health and stability. This due diligence can help mitigate risks associated with the loan originator’s solvency.

Loan originators risk

Loan originators pose a risk to investors. If they are not in control of their finances, have poor management, or the like, then they run the risk of going bankrupt like any other business.

Loan originators on Swaper:

• Wandoo Finance: Wandoo Finance is a fintech company founded in 2016 that specializes in consumer loans from Spain and Poland with a loan amount of €50-1800. The loans have a 12-16% return and are secured with a buyback guarantee.
• One Leasing: One Leasing is a vehicle leasing provider in North Macedonia, established in 2018, offering financial leasing for new and used vehicles with loan amounts up to €15,000, backed by a buyback guarantee and featuring an 8-12% return for investors.

While One Leasing has 10% skin in the game on all loans, Wandoo Finance is not required to have skin in the game. This could be seen as a red flag as no skin in the game can cause misalignments in the interests of the lending company and investors. But since all loans from Wandoo Finance are protected by a buyback guarantee which should be covered by Wandoo Finance Group, the result should in theory be the same.

Upon examining the loan status of both loan originators on the Swaper P2P lending platform, it’s evident that One Leasing holds a greater number of current loans compared to Wandoo Finance Group, suggesting a lower risk profile. The loans from One Leasing are also covered by collateral. However, it should be noted that the returns on loans from One Leasing typically offer a lower yield, indicating lesser potential profitability.

Financial turndown risk

As P2P investing is a newer thing in the investment world, it can be difficult to predict how a financial turndown would affect this form of investment. As a starting point, it is, therefore, a really bad idea to invest your entire investment portfolio in P2P investments.

Therefore, many investors also choose to diversify into more traditional forms of investment such as equities, bonds, and traditional real estate.

Since investing is an individual thing, we do not know what will be best for you. But if you put together your investment portfolio, make sure that it reflects your knowledge of the investments in it, as well as your risk appetite. If in doubt about how to do so, make sure to seek help from a professional investment planner.

Is Swaper safe?

Swaper has implemented safety measures such as the buyback guarantee to safeguard investments against loan default risks. Furthermore, it has shown consistent profitability over the years, which is a positive sign.

However, there are inherent risks associated with P2P lending platforms like Swaper, including loan default risk, loan originator risk, and the risk of a financial downturn.

Compared to other platforms that feature many different loan originators investors are very dependent on the financial situation of Wandoo Finance Group when using Swaper, which is a slight drawback.

Our experience with Swaper

Swaper has one of the very best user interfaces in the whole industry. It is simple yet very powerful.

The app from Swaper is very well put together, and the dark mode of the app is also really great for checking the portfolio late at night.

The company is also very good at maintaining investor confidence during tough times like the coronavirus pandemic. Here, the company provided detailed updates on its blog. This included the financial situation of the company.

Swaper reviews on Trustpilot

Trustpilot is a great place to learn what other people think of Swaper. We have collected some bad and some good Swaper reviews from Trustpilot for you to take a closer look at:

Best Swaper alternatives

Not sure Swaper is the right choice for you? Then there are also some good Swaper alternatives to consider. The following are some of our favorites:

• Mintos
• Lendermarket
• PeerBerry

Even if you use Swaper, it might be a good idea to take a closer look at some of the above platforms. By using multiple platforms, you can reduce your platform risk and diversify your portfolio further.

Swaper vs Mintos

As both platforms are popular many investors ask how to decide between Swaper vs Mintos.

Swaper is probably best for a simple user experience, whereas Mintos is more advanced but also more confusing. Swaper offers a very high return, whereas Mintos is more focused on diversification.

Which platform you should go with highly depends on your overall investment goals.

Conclusion of our Swaper review

Swaper stands out as a compelling option in the P2P lending space, particularly for those seeking high returns and a user-friendly investment process. The platform’s high yield of up to 16%, combined with features like the 60-day buyback guarantee, auto-invest tool, and a 2% loyalty bonus, make it an attractive choice for investors of varying experience levels.

The auto-invest feature, in particular, offers a convenient way for investors to manage their funds passively on Swaper, while the loyalty bonus is a unique offering that incentivizes larger investments. The secondary market adds a desirable level of liquidity, allowing investors to sell loans early if needed.

However, potential investors must be aware of the risks involved. The reliance on only two loan originators (Wandoo Finance Group and One Leasing) limits diversification, potentially increasing the risk profile. Additionally, the lack of regulation might be a concern for some investors, as it implies less oversight and protection compared to regulated platforms.

Swaper is a quite transparent P2P lending platform with public financial statements which shows that the platform has been profitable for a long period. The team behind Swaper also navigates challenging markets well. During Covid-19 the team provided many updates on the market outlook on the blog.

In summary, Swaper offers high-return opportunities in the P2P lending market with an array of investor-friendly features. However, as with any investment, it’s essential to consider the associated risks and to conduct thorough research before committing funds. Swaper is best suited for those who are comfortable with the inherent risks of P2P lending and are looking to diversify their investment portfolio with high-yield, short-term consumer loans. If you plan to invest more than €25,000 for over three months, you will even get +2% on all your investments.