Lendermarket Review: A Closer Look at the P2P Platform

Quick answer: Lendermarket is an Irish P2P lending platform, closely tied to Creditstar Group, offering some of the highest yields in European P2P (a published weighted average of 13.46%, advertised up to 15%). It has been authorised as a crowdfunding service provider by the Central Bank of Ireland since December 2024, cleared its legacy pending-payments backlog, and reports no investor capital losses to date. The trade-offs are concentration in Creditstar-related loans and liquidity that is still developing — though the new Auto Invest FLEX product now offers an early-exit option, with a full secondary market planned for later in 2026.

What is Lendermarket?

Lendermarket is an Ireland-based peer-to-peer lending platform launched in 2019. Investors fund short- to medium-term consumer and business loans issued by partner loan originators, most of them backed by a 60-day buyback guarantee.

The platform has gone through a meaningful transformation since our 2025 review. It obtained its ECSP licence in late 2024, shut down its old platform (v1.0) on 31 December 2025 after clearing pending payments from the prior crisis, and now works with several originators. Its partners include established lenders such as Credifiel and Creditstar, and in August 2026 the platform added Best Credit from Romania and OK Credit from Moldova, which offers consumer and property-secured loans. Creditstar Group remains the dominant originator.

How does Lendermarket work?

Sign up and verify your identity
Deposit funds via SEPA transfer or bank card
Choose loans manually, or set up Auto Invest or Auto Invest FLEX
Earn interest as borrowers repay (monthly or at term end)
Withdraw or reinvest your returns

The minimum investment per loan is €10, and there are no investor fees.

Start Investing

What returns does Lendermarket offer in 2026?

Lendermarket remains one of the highest-yielding platforms in Europe. It publishes a weighted average interest rate of 13.46% across its book, dated 23 February 2026, and advertises up to 15% on the homepage. Some sources cite higher figures — one review puts the expected average return at 15.5%, with some individual loans having offered interest rates of up to 19% — so rates vary by originator, loan term, and active cashback campaigns.

For investors who prefer flexibility over maximum yield, Auto Invest FLEX targets up to 10.5% — lower than the platform’s headline average, but with an early-exit option built in (more on that below).

✅ Key strengths

EU regulation under ECSP

This is the most important update since our last review. Lendermarket has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as a crowdfunding service provider since 17 December 2024, giving it a real EU regulatory framework that many competing platforms still lack.

Legacy issues resolved

The pending-payments problems that affected the platform in previous years are behind it. The pending payments backlog from Lendermarket 1.0 has been fully resolved, and Lendermarket says no investor has lost money on the €600+ million lent through it up to August 2026.

Strong current portfolio health

As of September 2026, 99.2% of Lendermarket’s portfolio is performing as expected, with only 0.8% in recovery.

Buyback guarantee and Auto Invest

Most loans include a 60-day buyback guarantee, and the standard Auto Invest tool lets investors build custom strategies by loan term, interest rate, and originator.

📢 Auto Invest FLEX: automation with early-exit freedom

Launched in August 2026, Auto Invest FLEX is Lendermarket’s newest product, offering target returns of up to 10.5% alongside greater freedom over your capital. It was built in response to a recurring investor question: what happens if you need your cash before loans mature?

The answer is a structured early exit. If your plans change, you can request to exit part or all of your active portfolio early. Here’s how it works:

Simple pricing: exiting early costs a 3.5% flat fee on the exited amount, deducted upon successful settlement — with no management fees, no complex tier systems, and 100% automated reinvestment otherwise.
Replacement funding: your investment is re-listed so available platform capital can replace it, and once funded (up to 10 calendar days), your principal and earned interest minus the fee are settled back to your account.
No lost earnings: your investment keeps earning interest right up until replacement funding settles, and if no match is found in time, the request expires and your funds keep earning as usual.

One point to keep in mind: early exits are conditional on replacement funding becoming available and are not a guaranteed withdrawal right. Still, for investors who want hands-off investing without fully locking in their capital, FLEX is a meaningful step forward — and it arrives ahead of the platform’s planned secondary market later in 2026.

Zero investor fees and solid user ratings

There are no account, deposit, or withdrawal fees on standard investing. The overall Trustpilot rating for Lendermarket is 4.1.

⚠️ Key drawbacks

Concentration in Creditstar Group

Even with new originators added, Lendermarket remains closely tied to one lending group. Virtually all loans are originated by Creditstar Group subsidiaries — consistent buyback execution is a strength, but concentration is the trade-off if Creditstar ever faced difficulties.

Liquidity is improving, but not instant

A full secondary market is still on the way, with Lendermarket confirming its launch for later in 2026. Until then, Auto Invest FLEX offers the main early-exit route — useful, but dependent on replacement funding and subject to a 3.5% fee.

History of loan extensions

Investors should understand the platform’s past. Lendermarket previously extended Creditstar loans without borrower requests, locking funds for up to 720 days and delaying buybacks. These issues have since been cleared, but loan extensions can still delay when buybacks take effect.

Two-tier regulatory structure

The ECSP licence doesn’t cover everything. Lendermarket provides services regulated under the EU Crowdfunding Regulation as well as services not covered by it, and one 2026 review found most existing loans sit in that unregulated part. Check which part of the platform a loan belongs to before investing.

Smaller scale

Lendermarket’s active portfolio sits at around €53M, considerably smaller than market leaders like Mintos or PeerBerry.

📊 Lendermarket at a glance (2026)

Feature	Lendermarket
Launched	2019
Headquarters	Dublin, Ireland
Total lent	€600M+
Weighted average interest	13.46% (Feb 2026)
Advertised return	Up to 15% (higher on select loans)
Minimum investment	€10
Fees to investor	None (except 3.5% FLEX early-exit fee)
Buyback guarantee	Yes (60 days)
Auto Invest	✅ Standard + Auto Invest FLEX (up to 10.5% target)
Early exit	✅ Via FLEX — 3.5% flat fee, up to 10 days, subject to replacement funding
Secondary market	⏳ Planned for later in 2026
Portfolio performing	99.2% (Sept 2026)
Main originator	Creditstar Group

Is Lendermarket Safe?

Lendermarket is meaningfully sturdier than it was a few years ago: it has an ECSP licence from the Irish regulator, wound down its old platform after clearing pending payments, and now works with several loan originators. It remains a higher-yield platform, though, and its main risks are:

Loan default — mitigated by the buyback guarantee
Originator concentration — most exposure ties back to Creditstar Group
Liquidity — no live secondary market yet; FLEX early exits depend on replacement funding

Interestingly, Creditstar is also the group behind Monefit SmartSaver — so investors holding both platforms should treat them as related exposure rather than two separate bets. See our Monefit vs Bondora vs Afranga SaveSmart comparison for more on how Creditstar-backed products fit into a portfolio.

Who should use Lendermarket?

Lendermarket suits:

Investors seeking higher-yield passive income with EU regulatory oversight
Those who want hands-off investing with an exit option, via Auto Invest FLEX
Investors comfortable with moderate-to-higher risk in exchange for double-digit rates
Those who prefer short- to mid-term consumer loans with buyback protection

It’s less suitable for ultra-conservative investors, those who need guaranteed instant liquidity, or those already heavily exposed to Creditstar Group via other platforms.

Final Verdict

Lendermarket has cleaned up considerably since 2025. An ECSP licence, a cleared pending-payments backlog, a fully retired legacy platform, new originators, and a 99.2% performing portfolio make it a much more credible proposition than it was during its difficult 2022–2024 period. The launch of Auto Invest FLEX also addresses one of investors’ biggest long-standing requests: a way out before maturity.

The key trade-offs are Creditstar concentration and liquidity that is still maturing until the secondary market launches. Used as a satellite allocation within a diversified portfolio — and vetted with our due diligence checklist — Lendermarket remains a competitive higher-yield option. Compare it against other platforms on our comparison page.