Lendermarket Review 2026

Creditstar backing + Group guarantee

Lendermarket benefits from the backing of Creditstar, a fintech group with over 10 years of profitable operation (2024 profit: 8.1 M€). This financial strength provides reassurance to investors, as Creditstar Group remains the dominant loan originator on the platform (like UnaFinancial on Robocash).

All loans on Lendermarket come with a buyback guarantee. This mechanism now works well, with non-performing loans being successfully repurchased and paid out to investors. However, the platform experienced significant liquidity issues during the 2022-2024 period, as discussed below.

Beyond the standard buyback, investors benefit from a group guarantee that secures the obligations of each lender within the Creditstar Group. While this mechanism does not completely eliminate credit risk, it adds an additional layer of protection that helps protect capital and reinforces confidence.

Cons to investing on Lendermarket

No secondary market

There is no secondary market on Lendermarket, meaning investors cannot sell their investments before maturity. The platform does not even offer an early buyback option like investors may find on Income Marketplace. This inability to resell loans significantly limits liquidity.

In case of an emergency, like unexpected medical expenses or job loss, investors have no way to exit their investments prematurely. They must wait until loan maturity to recover their funds, which makes the platform unsuitable for those who need quick access to their money.

The platform has announced plans to implement a secondary market in the future, which would address this limitation and improve overall liquidity. In the meantime, investors can mitigate liquidity concerns by focusing on shorter-term loans in Spain and Finland.

720-day pending payments

Between 2022 and 2024, Lendermarket experienced significant liquidity issues. Investors had to wait longer for their money, while Creditstar simultaneously kept Mintos investors waiting for months. Throughout this period, the amount of outstanding payments remained completely unknown.

During this period, all Creditstar loans were extended beyond maturity dates, exceeding the six 30-day extensions allowed. The platform unilaterally extended loans, locking investor funds in pending payments status for up to 720 days, paying neither principal nor interest.

In October 2025, Lendermarket announced that all outstanding payments had been settled. Then, with new technology and new loan originators, the platform launched “Lendermarket 2.0”. Although everything was ultimately repaid with interest for the waiting period, these years of issues severely damaged the platform’s reputation.

Loan extensions limit liquidity

Clause 6.5 of Lendermarket’s assignment agreement allows the loan originator to extend the loan agreement up to 6 times without prior investor approval. Each extension period cannot exceed 30 days, meaning a loan can be extended for a maximum of 180 additional days before any buyback guarantee triggers.

For example, a 30-day loan could be extended 6 times, with each extension lasting up to 30 days. Combined with the 60-day period before the buyback guarantee triggers, a short-term loan could lock up investor capital for up to 270 days.

While this extension mechanism was used systematically during the 2022-2024 period, it is no longer common practice today. However, this provision remains in Lendermarket’s contracts and can be activated at any time without prior investor agreement, further limiting investment liquidity.

Platform not profitable

Lendermarket has been structurally loss-making since its creation with significant losses from 2018 to 2022 according to their audited financial reports. However, FY23 marked a turning point with a modest profit of 87,836 €, driven by 25% increased turnover to 1.25 M€ in 2023.

Yet FY24 brought a return to losses with a deficit of 299,639 €. While revenue slightly increased to 1.37 M€, operating costs rose disproportionately, pushing accumulated losses to nearly 1.5 M€ since 2019. Shareholders injected approximately 487,000 € to stabilize the equity position.

This loss is largely explained by investments in IT infrastructure renewal and financial restructuring. With revenue growing year-on-year and strong customer acquisition, the company appears positioned for future profitability, though investors should monitor whether this growth trajectory materializes.

Lack of transparency

Lendermarket does not disclose critical performance data. The platform has not published the total amount returned to investors, payment delay statistics, or loan default rates. This makes it difficult for potential investors to assess the platform’s actual track record.

Visibility into the loan book remains limited, and disclosure about due diligence processes is scarce. Communication has historically been a weak point, with investors often left without clear and regular updates during the pending payments period.

On a more positive note, Lendermarket evaluates each loan originator against four categories: transparency, legal environment, financial stability, and transactions. This risk rating, introduced in late 2024, provides some insight into how the platform assesses its partners including Creditstar entities.

Opinion on Lendermarket

Founded in 2019 by the founder of Creditstar Group, Lendermarket is a platform designed to finance the group’s consumer lending activities in Europe. In December 2024, it obtained the European crowdfunding service provider license, allowing it to operate across the entire European Union.

Thus, Lendermarket can rely on this solid financial group, active in lending since 2006. Over the years, Creditstar has deployed its brand in several European countries, allowing Lendermarket to offer broad geographic diversification to investors while providing a group guarantee.

The annual returns offered are certainly the highest among well-established P2P platforms in Europe. However, while investors see these attractive interest rates as a consequence of risk, I see them more as compensation for Lendermarket’s damaged reputation and lack of liquidity.

Despite this, after the endless period of pending payments, Lendermarket has sought to professionalize its image (faster payments, updated web interface, improved customer support). The platform has also implemented security measures to comply with European requirements (creation of reserves).

But on the liquidity side, the platform still does not offer a secondary market despite repeated requests from investors. While this is understandable for recent platforms like Loanch, Lendermarket would have had plenty of time to implement it.

Ultimately, investors who recently joined the 2.0 version of the platform appreciate Lendermarket for its returns and its modern, intuitive interface. On the other hand, older investors have either completely withdrawn or moved to Creditstar’s Monefit SmartSaver offer, which is much more liquid.

Today, Lendermarket’s image remains closely tied to Creditstar’s despite unsuccessful attempts to open up to other lending companies, particularly in Latin America. The platform has not managed to become a true marketplace and therefore remains dependent on the Creditstar group.

The platform is all the more dependent on Creditstar as it has never made a profit since its launch in 2019. This chronic deficit results notably from its inability to expand beyond Creditstar and from high returns that do not allow sufficient margins.

Lendermarket now benefits from a stabilized management team, an acceptable level of liquidity, and greater transparency (which still needs improvement regarding statistics), which inspires more confidence. Nevertheless, investors should continue to approach this platform with caution given its track record.