Why grades exist - and why they are not enough
Every platform on this site carries a letter grade from A+ to D. The grade weighs five structural checks - licence, delivery, yield reality, ownership and exit options. But a grade alone does not tell you whether a platform fits your money. An A-grade real-estate platform might be brilliant, but if you already hold three property-backed portfolios, adding a fourth doubles your sector bet. The decision framework below mirrors the grade checks, then adds two personal filters: loan-type fit and ticket-size alignment.
Check 1: Licence type (30% of the grade)
Licence type is the heaviest weight in the grading model because it defines your escalation path when something breaks. An ECSP or MiFID II licence from an EU banking regulator means the platform reports to a supervisor with enforcement powers. An unregulated platform can suspend withdrawals, change terms or vanish with no regulatory backstop.
Pass signals: ECSP from the Bank of Lithuania, Latvijas Banka or the Central Bank of Ireland. MiFID II from Latvijas Banka or another banking regulator. Check the regulator website for the active licence entry.
Fail signals: No licence listed on the About page. A Swiss SRO (self-regulatory organisation) for AML compliance only - no conduct supervision. A pending ECSP application that has been pending for more than 18 months.
Example: InRento holds an ECSP licence from the Bank of Lithuania, the regulator that enforces conduct rules, capital buffers and reporting deadlines. Contrast that with a Swiss platform operating under an SRO, which carries no compensation scheme and no binding conduct supervision.
Check 2: Delivery track record (20% of the grade)
Track record answers one question: did investors get paid on schedule, and how were defaults handled? Look for at least three full calendar years of disclosed returns, not just a launch date. A platform founded in 2022 that only reports data from mid-2024 has not weathered a full credit cycle.
Pass signals: Realised yield data for every year since 2020. Zero payment freezes, zero unexplained withdrawal suspensions. Public disclosure of how many loans defaulted and how much capital was recovered or written off.
Fail signals: No realised yield published - only advertised rates. Withdrawal suspensions lasting more than 30 days with no recovery timeline. Platforms that claim zero defaults but refuse to publish loan-level data.
Example: PeerBerry repaid EUR 51 million in Ukraine-war loans without a single missed payment, demonstrating that the buyback mechanism worked under geopolitical stress. Compare that to a platform where realised yield dropped 8 percentage points below the advertised figure with no explanation.
Check 3: Yield reality - advertised vs realised (20% of the grade)
Advertised yield is marketing. Realised yield is what landed in your account after fees, delays and defaults. A platform advertising 18% that delivered 13% has a 5-point reality gap - acceptable for a B-grade platform, red flag for anything claiming A-grade.
Pass signals: Realised yield within one percentage point of advertised for A-grade platforms. Clear fee structure with no hidden charges at withdrawal. Public explanation when yield drops quarter-over-quarter.
Fail signals: Advertised yield based on best-case scenarios with no downside disclosure. No realised yield published anywhere on the site. A gap of more than 3 percentage points between advertised and realised with no recovery plan.
Example: Maclear delivered 14.5-14.9% in 2025, matching its advertised range. One default was covered in full by the platform, keeping realised yield in line with the marketing claim. That consistency earns the A+ grade.
Check 4: Ownership and related-party concentration (15% of the grade)
Who owns the platform, and are they also funding the loans? A platform that lends exclusively to its own group companies is a single point of failure. If the parent entity defaults, your entire portfolio ties to one corporate family.
Pass signals: Publicly disclosed ownership on the About page or registry filings. At least three unrelated loan originators or borrowers. No more than 40% of loans from a single entity unless the platform openly discloses the concentration and stress-tests it.
Fail signals: Ownership hidden behind nominee structures. 100% of loans from the platform's own group. Related-party transactions not disclosed anywhere.
Example: Robocash lends 100% to its own group - every loan funds a Robocash subsidiary. The platform honours buybacks consistently, but your exposure is concentrated in one corporate network. Diversify with a multi-lender marketplace like Mintos.
Check 5: Exit options - secondary market and lock-ups (15% of the grade)
Exit liquidity matters when your plans change or the platform deteriorates. A secondary market lets you sell loans early. A lock-up means you wait until maturity, regardless of what happens.
Pass signals: Active secondary market with daily volume data. Average time-to-sell under 14 days for investment-grade loans. Auto-exit toggle that works without manual intervention.
Fail signals: No secondary market at all. Secondary market that froze during the last stress event and never reopened. Lock-ups longer than 24 months with no early-exit clause.
Example: Mintos runs an active secondary market with daily liquidity for most notes. PeerBerry plans to launch its secondary market in 2026, but until then, you hold loans to maturity. Know the exit path before you commit capital.
Check 6: Loan-type fit - does this asset class belong in your portfolio?
This check is personal, not structural. Real-estate loans behave differently from consumer loans. SME lending carries different recovery paths than buy-to-let mortgages. If you already hold property-backed P2P accounts, adding another real-estate platform stacks concentration risk.
Asset-class diversity test: List every P2P account you hold, note the loan type for each (consumer, SME, real estate, leasing, factoring). If more than 60% sits in one category, your next platform should fund a different loan type.
Example: You hold Maclear (SME, real estate, factoring) and InRento (buy-to-let). Both are A-grade, but both lean on property. Add Nectaro (consumer notes) to diversify away from real-estate cycles.
Check 7: Ticket size - can you allocate meaningfully without overconcentrating?
Minimum investment amounts range from EUR 10 to EUR 500. If a platform requires EUR 500 and you only want to allocate EUR 1,000 to P2P, that platform claims 50% of your entire P2P capital. That is concentration, not diversification.
Ticket-size rule: Each platform should represent no more than 30% of your total P2P allocation unless it holds an A+ or A grade. For a EUR 5,000 portfolio, that means EUR 1,500 maximum per platform. For a EUR 20,000 portfolio, EUR 6,000 maximum.
Example: InRento requires EUR 500 minimum. If you have EUR 2,000 to allocate, InRento would take 25% - acceptable. If you only have EUR 1,500 total, the EUR 500 minimum pushes you into overconcentration. Start with a EUR 10 or EUR 50 minimum platform instead.
The platform-finder shortcut
Seven checks sound like homework. The homepage filter does most of it for you. Set your yield target, minimum investment and auto-invest preference, then review the shortlist. Every platform on the list already passed the five structural checks - that is why it earned a grade. Your job is to confirm the loan type fits your diversification map and the ticket size aligns with your allocation plan.
One platform is a bet. Three platforms across different loan types and ownership structures is a portfolio.