Warning For Wisefund Investors
I do not invest in Wisefund. I did originally invest, but quickly changed my mind just after the fraudulent issues happened with other P2P platforms. I am now happy with that decision, and I would encourage you to do a proper due diligence if you are looking for a P2P platform to invest your money. There is currently a group looking into legal action against Wisefund.
What Is Wisefund?
Wisefund is a crowdlending investment platform, providing a connection between businesses requiring financing and investors. Investors can be attracted to such loans as they provide a much higher than interest compared to a bank account. Wisefund currently offers various investments with returns ranging from 5% to 21%. Check out my Wisefund review below!
Quick Summary
Wisefund is an Estonian crowdlending platform created in 2019, connecting investors with businesses seeking project funding. Wisefund currently has 2,160+ investors who have invested a combined €3.7 million into the platform. Wisefund has paid out a total of €182,500+ worth of interest payments, and offers investors an average interest rates ranging from 5% to 21%. All projects through Wisefund are covered by a buyback guarantee.About Wisefund
Wisefund (www.wisefund.eu) is an Estonian crowdlending platform created in 2019. The platform connects investors with businesses seeking project funding. Wisefund offers a handful of new projects each month, seeking funding between €60,000 and €650,000. Projects span many industries including equipment leases, refitting yachts, manufacturing, retail, farming, stock purchases, and railway operations. All projects through Wisefund are covered by a buyback guarantee. Other features of the platform include:
- No fees to the investor
- Minimum investment of €10 per project (can sometimes vary)
As with other P2P platforms, transfers will work through TransferWise or Revolut.
Additional company details:
- Company Name: WiseFund Capital OÜ
- Address: Väike-Ameerika tn 8, Tallinn 10129, Estonia
- Registration Nr.: 14675782
- Vat. No: EE102142895
Lending through Wisefund
To be able to you must meet certain criteria including being over 18, have valid identification documents, have an European bank account (how to invest in European P2P platforms without living in Europe) and be a resident from a country of the European Union or European Economic Area (or Switzerland). Currently Wisefund has not opened up its investment platform to companies; only individuals can invest.
As WiseFund operates in compliance with European laws, Wisefund must comply with verification procedures before investors can access the platform. Once you have had your KYC (know your customer) checks (with your passport or ID), you are free to invest money into the platform. Be sure to validate your account details before sending money. Money is usually in your account with 1 business day, but can take up to 3.
How does Wisefund review projects?
Wisefund will review all borrowers through a credit evaluation, before borrowers are accepted onto the platform.
The review includes checks such as
- Credit History – the business must have records of properly managing their finances
- Affordability – the business must have clearly shown that it can afford repayments
- Stability – borrowers creditworthiness and identity are checked
Original bank statements and audited financial accounts are also validated.
Invested money is separately held in client funds accounts, which does not contribute to the assets of Wisefund.
Reviewing Wisefund projects
Once you have invested money into your account, you can easily select projects under “browse Projects”. Once you have invested in your desired project, you are able to invest and enter into a contract with the borrower.
Interest payments will be made per the schedule of the selected project, and the principal payment will be made at the end of the loan term.
What is the minimum investment?
Investors can invest in loans with as low as €10, however, other minimum amounts can be specified by some projects. There is no maximum limit on how much you can invest in the platform.
Wisefund project example
Examples of project descriptions include a sections such as
- Project details – such as how much is available, interest rate, investor amount, loan amount, interest rate and the term.
- Project description – containing an overview of the project, what products are made, what markets are targeted and how capital will be used
- Why invest in them – a bullet point summary on why an investor should choose to invest in the company
- Company Overview – a short little description on the history of the company
- Sample Repayment Schedule – How often and at what rate you will receive interest.
Repayments and schedule
Repayments usually start within a month of investing in a project through the platform. Interest is calculated from the day you invest, not the day that the project reaches its required funding.
All interest payments are credited to the lender on the last calendar day of the month. All of the interest payments can be seen in the “upcoming payments” section of the dashboard.
However, if the project does not reach its funding goal, the invested money will return to the investors account without interest.
Register here and receive a bonus of 0.5% on your Wisefund investments for the first 270 days.
Wisefund fees
There are no fees associated with investing in Wisefund. Wisefund earns commission from borrowers after loans reach their funding target.
Wisefund Early Exit Fee
Some of the projects listed on the platform have an option for an early exit. This means that the investor can sell back their investment to a third party. Generally all of the interest payments are kept up to the point of the investment being sold, however, you would receive no further payments. Furthermore, there is an early exit fee for each loan sold. This fee is specified on the project page and can change depending on the project. Generally it takes 2 business days for the money to come back into your account. The exit option is generally on each investment page. Please note, not all projects have the option for an early exit. On some of the projects listed, the early exit fee was set at ~20%
Wisefund Buyback Guarantee
Wisefund has entered into an agreement with a third party who will buy out any loans that are late by more than 60 days. That third party will then be the ones to pursue debt recovery for the loan.
Withdrawing funds
Withdrawing money from your account is straightforward if you have registered your address and banking details. Simply hit the withdraw button on the dashboard, and then enter in the amount you would like to take out.
Wisefund Review
Wisefund is another crowdinvesting platform offering high-interest loans. It is worth noting that some of the other players in the crowdinvesting field, have ended up collapsing due to various reasons, which you can read about here. I am not saying that Wisefund or any of the other P2B platforms will collapse, but everyone should be aware of the industry to help determine if the investments are right for you. I decided that the risks with investing in Wisefund were not appropriate for me.
I really like this platform, even if it does not have many projects available. It’s like TFGCrowd, but one can invest starting from just 10 euros.
TFG is also likely a scam – as bloggers found few profects were fake
What about safety of ID scans? I can’t find any informations about encryption or something. I read about some cases of use personal data to get some loans. How safe is this?
Hi Bart,
Your concerns are valid.
To do business in any of these platforms, it is generally a requirement that we pass Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, which contribute to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws. These then contribute to the platform working with European banks to hold and secure money. The Wisefund Privacy Policy does cover a few of these points, specifically, only storing Personal Data for the minimum period required. However, it does not mention anything about encryption.
If you do have concerns about the security of your document, I would email the company directly asking for more details on how your identification is stored and used.
Additionally, you could run a credit check (depends on where you are, but you should be able to do at least one a year for free) to make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary.
Until these platforms are more heavily regulated, this can be a concern, and should be considered before investing!
Matt