In October, originations nearly doubled! €18,291,824 was originated on Bondora, making October the second consecutive month of origination growth. This growth was led by the solid Finnish market and the continued reintroduction of Spanish originations.
Country breakdown
Compared to September, originations were higher by 48.7%, bringing the total value of loan originations to €18,291,824. Finnish originations had the highest growth rate, up by 92.5% to €9,039,151. This put the Finnish origination share at 49.4% of all Bondora loans, compared to 38.2% in September.
Estonian originations grew by 21.5% but saw their share of total originations fall by 11.3% to 50.5%. With this being said, interest rates were slightly lower across all three originating countries, although these declines were relatively minor.
Finnish originations accounted for significantly more of the total Bondora originations, accounting for 49.4% of all originations on the platform compared to 38.2% in September.
In Estonia, B-rated originations saw their share decline from 14.0% last month to 11.3% in October. Additionally, although there were more originated in Estonian AA and A-rated originations, their total origination share was still lower.
Loan amounts
After soaring by 38.0% to €3,460 last month, the average loan amount for Estonian originations decreased by 6.4% to €3,240. Spanish and Finnish originations both grew by 24.3% and 8.9%, respectively.
Loan duration
Spanish originations saw the most drastic change in duration, averaging 48 months in October compared to 58 months in September. Estonian originations averaged at 58 months, which is one month higher than in September. Finnish originations had the same trend, coming in at 57 months on average.
Estonia had almost an identical distribution of loans by duration. 60-month loans remained the most overwhelmingly used duration length for Estonian originations, garnering 80% of originations in the country. Finnish loans had even more originations in the 60-month duration category, accounting for 84% of all originations in Finland.
Average age
The average age of Spanish borrowers was 42 years old—up two years from last month. Estonian borrowers were one year older this month, averaging 38-years old. Finnish borrowers were the only ones slightly younger this month on average, coming in at 43-years of age.
Income
Estonian net incomes jumped dramatically higher by 92.4% to €3,175. However, both Spanish and Finnish borrowers earned less net income on average. Spanish borrowers averaged €1,776 in monthly income (a 15.4% decline), and Finnish borrowers earned €2,899 on average (down 0.8%).
Education
The most significant change in education level was Finnish borrowers with a university education, which accounted for 30% of Finnish borrowers compared to 25% in September. Those with a vocational school education decreased by 4%. There was a slight increase in the distribution of Estonian borrowers with a junior high school education. In contrast, there was a slight decrease in those with a high school education, down to 40% from 42% of all Estonian-based borrowers.
Employment
Employment durations for Bondora borrowers skewed slightly higher this month. There were 1,997 borrowers employed for more than 5 years. They accounted for 35% of all Bondora borrowers compared to 33% in September. Those employed up to 5 years accounted for 29% of all borrowers compared to 31% in September.
Homeownership status
Homeowners in Finland saw a significant reduction, down from 47% last month to 42% in October. Meanwhile, there were more tenants this month, coming in at 41% of borrowers in October versus 36% in September. There was no notable change in the homeownership status of Estonian borrowers when compared to September.
Verification status
For the second consecutive month, both Spain and Finland had a 100% verification rate for all borrowers in those countries. The verification rate for Estonian borrowers was 94.8% this month, down from 97.5% in September. This brought the total verification rate down to 97.5% from 98.6% last month.
Conclusion
A 48.7% increase in originations is significant for Bondora. Spanish originations continue to make their comeback slowly and could help continue the increase of originations on the platform in the coming months. The most notable statistical change in borrower information was a 92.4% increase in Estonian borrowers’ net incomes.
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