Africa Internet Holding (AIH) has announced the launch of Lendico in South Africa, providing a digital alternative to banks and enabling investors to directly fund the loans of private individuals.
The Lendico marketplace offers borrowers cheap loans and investors attractive returns on two continents, and was initially launched in Germany in December 2013 followed by Spain, Poland and Austria.
“The idea of social lending is universal: people with money invest in the projects of people looking for funding. One party benefits from attractive returns, the other from cheap interest rates. Lendico is a win-win situation that functions all over the world: without bank counters and with an innovative new process, Lendico is able to beat the prices of banks and pass these savings directly on to their borrowers and investors,” AIH said in a statement.
For the analysis of the loan applications the company utilises an algorithm that classes loan projects in real time. AIH said affordable loans and attractive returns were not mutually exclusive.
“We have high standards when it comes to selecting borrowers, because we always have the interests of our investors in mind. Due to our cost advantage, Lendico can offer more affordable interest rates and smaller loan sums that for banks usually are not worthwhile,” said AIH co-founder Jeremy Hodara.
“Lendico has been developed as a digital alternative to banks“, said managing director Dominik Steinkühler. “Lendico is very different from a bank as borrowers and lenders benefit from direct interest rates. Lendico as a global marketplace represents a modern way to get a loan and to invest in a new asset class.”
