Episode 12 – Getting to Know the Insides of a P2P Platform
A very special episode this time with an actual P2P platform! We’re very excited today to be interviewing Olga, where we get into the nitty gritty of how a P2P platform works, how it makes money and why Robocash is so popular!
What we talk about:
- Who is Olga and what she does
- What is Robocash
- What makes Robocash different
- How they make money
- What a typical investor looks like
- Investors’ questions
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The story of Olga and Robocash
Olga is part of the Public Relations department in Robocash, and is in charge of managing relations with investors.
What is Robocash? A peer to portfolio platform where you can invest money into loans and get a sweet interest rate of between 13-15%. Robocash is pretty well known in Europe (check out our P2P episode with Jorgen), is based in Riga, Latvia and was founded in February, 2017. They have a team of 10 people spread across Latvia and Russia, most working remotely. Their platform is open for EU and Swiss investors.
Sounds risky/dodgy? We totally get that, which is why we interview these companies to understand how they work and the risks they entail.
In no way are we affiliated to Robocash or endorse them compared to other P2P platforms, we’re just here to learn and share ?
How they work and what makes them special
Robocash is currently focused in Europe and South-East Asia. Basically, companies give them loans, and Robocash offers them to investors. So effectively, Robocash is a marketplace.
The only countries with loan originators (the companies offering loans) are currently Spain and Kazakhstan, and soon so will Russia.
What makes Robocash special is:
- They only work with companies who offer buyback guarantee (so if the loan defaults, your covered.)
- They provide a stable high interest of 14% over the year and a half that they have been in action
- They pay out the interest on a monthly basis. So you can choose to keep that interest or re-invest it. Something no other P2P platform does (hello passive income!)
- Everything is fully automated. All you have to do is a bank transfer and then put up the settings for ‘Auto-invest’ and you’re done.
Sounds cool! But how do they make the $$?
Basically they add a small markup on lending companies who want to put their loans up onto Robocash. The lending company pays a certain percentage to cover the expenses and Robocash gets to keep this.
Loan originators have their own accounts on the platform and can easily see how their loans are doing.
Who’s the typical investor?
Olga tells us that Robocash has about 4000 investors, and loans are being uploaded on a daily basis. There’s a maximum limit of 10,000€, and your money is distributed through percentages – meaning there is no favouritism if someone invests more.
Alvar and Mathias then go on to ask the demographics of the typical investor, and it gets pretty interesting.
- 90% are men and 10% women
- However of that small percentage, the women are investing far more
- Average male age: 37
- Average female age: 43
- Most investors come from Germany, Spain and Czech Republic
- Most investors are 25-40
We can assume the women are investing more because their average age is higher meaning they have more to invest, but I still find that statistic interesting.
Why the 10K limit? Olga explains that at first this was a limit given by the bank when they were just starting out. Now they have kept the limit to give everyone an equal chance, since they don’t have many loan originators and therefore not many loans. However once they get the Russians in, they plan on raising the limit this year. And as Mathias says, this is ‘good news for the rich’.
Mathias and Alvar touch on a few other interesting points and Olga gives a pretty thorough response to them all (without disclosing Robocash’s future plans of course).
A very interesting episode – it’s not everyday we get to interview from the other side of the investing world; the platforms themselves. I highly recommend listening in if you want to find out more about Robocash and how to get started!
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