Bondster review: Let’s take a closer look at an exciting peer to peer lending platform currently available in Europe.

Are you looking for a reliable peer to peer platform to start investing in? In this Bondster review, we look at a platform that opened a few years ago and is committed to complete transparency. Find out if it is the best for you.

Bondster Review Overview: What is Bondster?

Bondster is an upcoming peer-to-peer lending marketplace in the Czech Republic. Launched in 2017, the platform currently boasts of more than 9300 investors and has processed over 44M EUR worth of loans.

The platform offers various investment loans through loan providers (also called loan originators). These are non-bank financial institutions that perform checks before listing the investments. Most loans on the platform are secured by collateral such as real estate, property, or buyback guarantees.

Bondster at a glance

Company launch: 2017
Headquarters: Czech Republic
Loan Types: Unsecured Consumer Loans, Mortgage Loans, Business Loans
Loans origination: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, South Africa
Investors: 9400+ (May 2020)
Minimum investment: 5 EUR
Secondary market: no
Buyback guarantee: yes
Accepts investors from EU countries

How does Bondster work?

Bondster follows a similar approach to other P2P lending platforms in Europe. Loan originators list loan investments on the platform, allowing investors to invest.

Most of the loans comprise of unsecured consumer loans (99%) while the remaining cover mortgages and business loans.

The loans operate on a loan term of between 1 month to five years, with most going for a few months. Since the platform has no secondary market, investors can sell loans with maturities of more than a year back to the originator at a 1% fee.

As mentioned before, the minimum investment is only 5 EUR, with an average return of between 9 – 13%.

According to Bondster, their criteria for choosing loan originators follows stringent requirements taking into account financial stability, reputation, and ethical approach to lending.

How to Open an Account on Bondster

Individuals and corporate legal entities can register on Bondster. The platform only requires investors to be 18 years old and have a bank account within the European Union.

Value Nomad’s readers are offered a very special deal if you use this link to sign up with Bondster. Each new investor who invests more than 50 EUR will be included in a small raffle. The prize will go to 5 new investors with the prize being 20 EUR to their investor account.

The winners will be chosen at the end of June. Be sure to use this link to sign up.

The registration process itself is quick and straightforward.

Click on the “Register” button on Bondster’s homepage.
Fill out your basic information such as name, DOB, country of residence, email, etc.
Check your email for a confirmation email to complete the registration, including the necessary payment details.
Complete registration and send the first payment from an account in your name.

How to Invest in Bondster

Bondster offers two investment options.

Manual investing
Auto-investing.

However, before you start investing, you must fund your account. Here’s how:

How to transfer money and fund your Bondster account

Investors can transfer funds to their Bondster accounts through SEPA (bank transfer). You won’t be charged any additional fees for this transaction that takes between two to four days to reflect.

Non-European investors must prove the source of their income before investing in the platform.

While Bondster accepts both euros and Czech crowns, you incur hefty exchange fees when you transfer euros but invest in Czech crowns. Use digital banks such as Transferwise and Revolut for the best exchange rates.

Now, back to investing.

Manual investing

Head over to the “INVESTMENTS OFFER” on the top left menu when you are logged in.

You can narrow down your search using filters that cover, among other things:

Minimum and maximum maturity time of the loan
Loans with or without buyback guarantee
Minimum and maximum interest rates
What kind of collateral you want for your investment (if any), e.g., real estate or car
Currency (CZK or EUR)

View any additional information on any loan that fulfills your criteria. You can view details such as:

The loan originator
Loan type
Interest rate
Frequency of payments
Loan status
Remaining maturity
Date of issue

If satisfied, click on the “INVEST” button on the right side of the screen and allocate the funds you want to invest in the loan. Completing the contract documents and entering your password seals the deal.

Automatic investing

Alternatively, use the platform’s auto-invest option to select and invest in loans. The feature allows you to set predefined criteria and parameters and picks the loans based on that.

The tool saves you time and effort and guarantees you only quality loans.

To set it up, head over to “INVESTMENTS OFFER,” select a desired investing criterion, and click on “CREATE AUTO INVEST”.

Types of Investments Available at Bondster

So, what type of investments can you find on Bondster?

The majority of loans are unsecured personal loans with a maturity of between 1 – 12 months. You can also find a few business and mortgage loans.

The loans offer interest rates of between 10% – 13.5%, with some loans yielding above 13%.

Bondster Auto Invest Tool

The Bondster platform has an impressive AutoInvest feature that automatically allows investors to invest based on their preferred criteria.

Some of the criteria you can use to filter loans include interest rates, terms of maturity, buyback guarantee, and loan status.

The auto-invest tool runs every hour, picking up any new loans that fit your criteria.

To set up your auto-invest strategy, head over to “INVESTMENTS OFFER” on the platform. Select the desired criteria and click “CREATE AUTO INVEST”. The feature will run and fill your loan portfolio.

How Much Can You Earn on Bondster?

The average annual return in EUR for investors is around 13.25%. Some loans offer more than that. Your final yield will depend heavily on your approach, loan selection, among other factors.

This return rate is at par with other competitor peer-to-peer lending platforms.

Who Can Invest In Bondster?

Both individuals and other legal entities can invest in the platform. Individuals must be 18+ years. Investors must have a bank account in the European Union registered in the name.

Bondster Pros

High annual returns going as high as 15%
Loans are secured by collateral such as real estate and property
Most loans covered by a buyback guarantee
Auto invest is available
Low minimum investment requirement at only 5 EUR
A healthy pipeline of diverse loan investments to choose from
Direct investment structure where investors have an immediate claim to the borrowers
Investments in euros offered free of charge
Good investment alternative to the Baltic platforms
No withholding taxes

Bondster Cons

Lack of a secondary market or early exit option
The buyback guarantee differs based on the specific loan
1% fee for investments in CZK
Fees for early withdrawals

Bondster Review Verdict

Bondster is a worthy P2P investing alternative to the Baltic peer lending platforms. It ranks well in terms of returns, safety, and automation. Meanwhile, it’s also transparent and suitable for both new and seasoned P2P investors.

Diversify your portfolio today by investing in Bondster.

Other Crowd Investing Resources

Looking for more options? You might want to read some of our other crowd investing and peer to peer lending reviews. There are many peer to peer lending and investing platforms currently available, and you can diversify your interest income by using several of them simultaneously.

You can consider some other peer to peer companies by checking out our Estate Guru review or our Mintos review. Also check our posts on the best peer 2 peer lending platforms in Europe, and the best real estate crowdfunding platforms in Europe.

Are you already investing in Bondster or in any other peer to peer lending platform? Leave your thoughts and questions about this Bondster review below.