Lendermarket, P2P platform backed up by strong Creditstar Group, quickly gains its market share in P2P lending. We are active investors on the platform so we were excited when the opportunity to interview Omayra Roig, Lendermarket’s Head of Operations, emerged.
Omayra, your position title is Business Manager, could you tell us more about yourself and responsibilities you have at Lendermarket?
Sure! My academic background is in law and business administration. A few years back, I worked at Creditstar and got to know the lending side of peer-to-peer lending from within. Later on, at the beginning of 2019, I had the chance to join Lendermarket where I’ve been working since then.
I was a P2P investor before joining the company. So, having the chance to work at Lendermarket from early on has been a great experience. I like working with products that I connect with and bring value to me.
(Actually, recently my title changed and I’m holding the position of Head of Operations.)
Thank you, we will update this information. So besides you, how many people take care of the platform? Is the work capacity shared within Creditstar / LM or do you have separate work positions?
For the moment, the platform has 7 full-time members completely independent from Creditstar. As the business expands, we expect to grow the team this year and add new functions to the company.
“Our plans are ambitious and we aim to grow at least 10 times during the next few years.”
Interest rates have been increased recently to offer the best Creditstar rates across the P2P lending market. Do you plan to keep it that way or is it some kind of temporary promotional activity?
Lendermarket aims at offering competitive returns. This translates into our commitment to offering the best Creditstar rates in the P2P lending field.
What are the main goals Lendermarket would like to achieve from its owners perspective? Does Creditstar consider withdrawing from other platforms in case sufficient capital is attracted to Lendermarket?
We aim to build Lendermarket as a preferred source of alternative investment opportunities for small and institutional investors. Our plans are ambitious and we aim to grow at least 10 times during the next few years. For Creditstar, the diversification of financing sources is key and we are not aware of the plans of withdrawing from other platforms.
Well, its really ambitious plan. What is the strategy to achieving the set goals? Are you preparing some news for investors? Will you focus on new features or rather marketing promotions like iphone contests / cashback campaigns?
Our team has onboarded new team members and is ready for the next growth phase of Lendertmarket, which includes a long list of new and exciting product features and opportunities. Marketing certainly plays and will play an important role in our growth, that said our main focus will be strongly on platform development. We will share the news on our blog and newsletters 🙂
Some investors miss the secondary market. Do you plan to implement it or you don’t see it as a top priority?
Currently, we do not see it as a top priority since most of the loans are short-term. However, this does not mean that we will not implement it in the following months. As many investors, I also look forward to having a secondary market.
Creditstar Group performance seems very stable despite CoVid crisis, how did the pandemic affect LM development?
Absolutely! Our team is very proud of what Creditstar achieved last year and how they weather the unexpected storm that 2020 brought.
As for Lendermarket, we accomplished steady and controlled growth in our first full year of operations and reached the targets we set before 2020. Much of this is because we had great support from our partner Creditstar and the investors. Despite the difficulties, we were very optimistic seeing the number of users was growing month after month. In the end, we embraced the opportunity to test our resilience and investors’ trust.
Certainly the pandemic affected our development roadmap, since we had to prioritize some projects over others. However, we are glad that despite it taking a bit longer, we took forward and eventually made those developments a reality.
It is a well known fact Raul Randväli, Capella Consulting OÜ will not be auditing Creditstars 2020 results after many years. Some investors would like to see a more credible company to support the trustworthiness. Can you comment on that?
Creditstar is in the process of being audited by KPMG this time, and like many investors, I also look forward to them sharing more details about it before the end of summer.
How do you see the P2P lending sector in Europe? There have been some problems, even frauds, at several platforms. This harms the whole industry. What steps do you consider important to remain transparent in the relationship to investors?
My view is optimistic when it comes to the future of P2P lending in Europe. We have the potential to innovate in the platforms and their business models. Also, it’s great to see how the public institutions are taking part in shaping the regulatory environment of p2p lending. Despite most of the European crowdlending and crowdfunding operate across the EU, enabling cross-border rules is an excellent achievement.
“Creditstar is in the process of being audited by KPMG”
Is there anything you would like to say to our readers? Why should they choose Lendermarket?
Investing has never been easier and so accessible for each and every individual. Take advantage of it because the only way you can secure a strong financial future for yourself is through investing. Do your homework and know where you put your money. At Lendermarket, we are working hard to become a preferred investment marketplace globally and keep the highest level of trust among our users.
Omayra, thank you for provided answers and good luck with reaching LM goals.
Thank you too Zbyněk.
Where to next?
- Lendermarket official website
- Lendermarket overview page at P2Ptrh
- Lendermarket: Creditstar’s P2P platform with yield up to 16,6% p.a. (P2Ptrh Lendermarket review)
- Comparison table with more than 30 P2P lending platforms