December brought another month of origination growth for Bondora. Originations totaled €7,043,525 over the month, up 7.8% from November. After the Finnish market reopened for originations one month earlier, there was a significant increase in December.
Finnish originations totaled €237,178, accounting for 3.4% of all Bondora originations. This is an impressive growth rate, considering it had just a small 0.4% share of originations in November. This represents a growth rate of 907.3% in originations from Finland! Estonian originations were also higher, up by 4.6% to €6,806,347.
After introducing C-rated Finnish loans in November, D-rated loans went up again in December. These loans totaled €118,588 with an 18.8% interest rate. Those above-mentioned C-rated Finnish loans also grew significantly, up from €23,547 to €118,590.
In December, Estonian originations skewed more toward C-rated loans and away from B-rated loans. C-rated originations accounted for 32.2% of all originations, rising by 6.8%. On the other hand, B-rated loans decreased by 9.5% to €2,471,117—accounting for 35.1% of all originations. Interest rates remained stable, although rates for D-, E-, and F-rated loans all increased slightly.
Loan amounts and duration
With Bondora allowing for more originations from Finland, the average loan amount in the country increased considerably. It increased from €1,681 to €3,162 in just one month. Meanwhile, on average Estonian originations dropped by 4.8% to €2,839, which is still higher than the average origination amount from October.
For the third month in a row, Estonian originations averaged 56 months in duration. Finnish originations were up from 47 months to 58 months on average, a significant increase given their previous numbers.
Finnish originations averaged such a high duration because all but five originations were done at 60 months. Durations for Estonia increased across almost all categories, except for 24-month and 42-month durations, which were slightly lower. 60-month durations still accounted for 77.1% of all Estonian originations, the same ratio as last month.
Average age
Estonian borrowers were, on average, the same age (37 years old) as last month. Borrowers from Finland are still much older than Estonian borrowers at an average of 47-years, even as this number decreased from an average of 49-year-olds last month.
Income
After two consecutive months of income increases for Estonian borrowers, their average income plummeted to €1,536, down 32.0% from November, and below October’s average of €1,648. With incomes averaging €3,825, Finnish borrowers made 15.6% more than they did last month.
Education
The education levels of Estonian borrowers held the same levels as last month. High school education is still the most common for Estonian borrowers, with 41.1% holding at that education level, while 24.9% of borrowers had a vocational school education. Meanwhile, Finnish borrowers were more likely this month to have a vocational school education (36) than university education (25).
Employment
Similar to education, employment statistics for Bondora borrowers were on par with November. Borrowers employed up to 5 years increased marginally by 0.1% of all borrowers to 37.1%. There was also a small, 0.5% decline in the ratio of borrowers employed for more than 5 years, totaling 746 in December. However, these changes are negligible, and as such, the overall trends of borrower employment remain intact.
Homeownership status
The same number of Estonian borrowers (375) live with their parents in December compared to November. In the country, homeownership rose to 1,049 borrowers, accounting for 43.8% of all Estonian borrowers, a 1.8% increase. Tenants also rose, comprising 21.3% of all Estonian borrowers compared to 19.7% a month ago. Finnish borrowers’ increase skewed more toward homeownership (62.7%), followed by tenants (26.7%).
Verification Status
Once again, all Bondora borrowers out of Finland (75) were verified. The verification rate for Estonian borrowers fell slightly from 98.3% to 97.4% in December.
A strong way to end the year
Bondora originations grew once again, surpassing €7 million in total. There was a slight increase in Finnish originations. Still, for the most part, the overwhelming majority of originations continue to come from Estonia, which saw its average origination amount decrease, but the number of originations increase. These figures bode well heading into a new year of originations at Bondora.
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