In January there was a total of €15,214,543 in Bondora originations. Even as originations increased as a whole, Finnish originations showed positive signs of growth compared to the previous month.
Country Breakdown
Finnish loans were the only originating country which increased on the month, up by 29.8% to €4,855,434. Meanwhile, interest rates were strong in Estonia, where the overall interest came in at 22.2% compared to 17.5% one month ago.
The majority of increase in Finnish originations came from E rated loans, which accounted for 28.6% of all Bondora originations on the month. Other notable changes included new HR loan originations in Spain, and a significant reduction in Estonian AA rated originations, which dropped by 55.8% to €1,546,406.
Loan Amounts
Average loan amounts in Finland seem to be normalizing around €3,000, coming in at €3,035 this month. Estonian loans came in slightly higher than last month, averaging €2,832 per origination in January.
Spanish durations remain the longest
The average duration for Spanish loans has remained consistently the longest for quite some time, holding strong at 53-months. Finnish originations were also the same, at an average of 48-months, while Estonian loans averaged slightly higher in January to 49-months.
Estonian originations have by far the widest array of origination lengths, with originations spread from 6-months to 60-months. The trend of Finnish and Spanish durations remained fairly consistent with previous months.
Average Age
Finnish borrowers are still, on average, the oldest borrowers on Bondora, averaging 46-years of age. Estonian borrowers remain the youngest, with the average age of Estonian borrowers dropping to 37-years old. Spanish borrowers maintained an average of 41-years of age.
Incomes normalize downward
After a month of increases in average income across the board, incomes normalized downward in all three Bondora originating countries. Estonian incomes fell by 6.4% to €1,267. Finnish incomes were down a similar amount, dropping by 4.4% to €2,624. It was Spanish borrowers who maintained similar incomes to last month, falling only 0.3% to €1,676.
Education
In January, 24.5% of Finnish borrowers had a university education compared to 23.2% a month ago. Although this was only a minor change, all things being relative, this was the most significant change in education level over the month.
Education Jan 2020 – Bondora
Employment
The number of Bondora borrowers employed more than 5-years jumped 2% higher to 38.7% in January. Elsewhere, 27.6% of borrowers employed for up to 5-years, compared to 28.7% a month ago.
Finnish borrowers shift into homeownership
Finnish borrowers were less likely to be tenants this month (43.2% of all borrowers) than last month (47.8% of all borrowers). Instead, the trend in Finland shifted toward ownership, as 37.3% of Finnish borrowers were homeowners in January compared to 35.1% in December.
More borrowers verified
Estonian borrowers continue to grow in verification, with 78.9% of borrowers in the country verified during the month, more than an 18% increase over just a month ago. The same trend occurred with Finnish borrowers, who were verified at a 95.3% rate this month. All told, Bondora borrowers are being verified at a higher rate than ever, with a 88.3% verification rate overall.
Positive signs from Finnish borrowers
The year began with positive signs from Finnish borrowers. Total originations out of Finland were up by 29.8% with borrowers on average having a higher education and be more likely to own a home. These trends provide a positive sentiment toward originations out of the country as the year progresses.
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