After seven straight months of origination increases, August saw a slight decrease in Bondora’s originations. A total of €11,584,049 was originated in August, a 2.0% decline compared to July. Nonetheless, it’s still a considerable amount of new loans originated.
Country breakdown
Finland and Estonia saw their originations go in opposite directions in August. Estonian originations were lower by 3.8%, while Finnish origination totals grew by 1.2%. This brought the total share of Finnish originations on Bondora up to 36.6% from 35.6% in July. Additionally, the cumulative interest rate on all Bondora originations rose by 0.2% to 21.9%.
Once again, Finland only originated D-rated loans. Meanwhile, in Estonia, originations shifted slightly to mid-range rating categories. Below you can see how the following Estonian origination rating categories increased their percent shares of all Bondora originations.
Loan amounts
The average Estonian origination amount continues to fall for the fourth consecutive month. In August, Estonian originations averaged €2,507—a 7.4% decline. Coincidently, the average Finnish loan also totaled €2,507 in August, representing a 1.6% monthly decline.
Loan duration
Bondora loan durations held steady in August. Estonian originations averaged 56 months, while Finnish originations came in at an average of 55 months. Both figures are identical to previous months.
Estonia saw the most growth in its 6- and 9-month originations, which were higher by 45.0% and 45.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, 36-month originations fell the most, by 20.7%. As for Finnish originations, there was a tremendous 177.8% growth in 9-month originations. However, 60-month originations still accounted for 73.3% of all originations, making them the most powerful of all Finnish originations.
Another thing to note is that Bondora loans originated at more extreme lengths in August than in previous months. Finland saw 41 originations at a 3-month duration, while Estonia saw several 119-month durations. These 119-month duration loans were due to the new Bondora B Secure+ feature.
Age
Estonian borrowers were on average one year older, averaging 38 years. Finnish borrowers saw the opposite trend, coming in one year younger at 44 years on average.
Income
The yo-yo trend of Bondora borrowers’ income continues to sway back and forth in August. Estonian borrowers earned 68.6% more than in July, averaging €2,296. Meanwhile, Finnish borrowers earned 5.5% less than in July, averaging €3,082 on the month. Both figures represent the fourth consecutive month of wavering income figures for Bondora borrowers.
Education
All education levels of Estonian borrowers were higher in August. The biggest gain was with Estonian borrowers with a university education, which rose by 9.8% to 470 borrowers. This was also true of university-educated Finnish borrowers, which was 6.7% higher. On the flipside, Finnish high school educated borrowers were lower by 8.1%.
Employment
Interestingly, there were 15.9% more retired Bondora borrowers in August, which brought the total share of retired borrowers up from 6.3% to 7.1%. There were also 6.5% more borrowers who had long-term employment—more than 5 years—accounting for 35.0% of all borrowers.
Homeownership status
Homeownership is still the most common status for Bondora borrowers. Of all 4,522 borrowers in August, 44.8% were homeowners. Borrowers living with their parents saw opposing trends based on their location. In Estonia, 16.3% more borrowers lived with their parents. By contrast, 14.8% fewer borrowers lived with their parents in Finland compared to a month ago.
Verification status
Estonian borrowers were verified at a rate of 97.4% in August against 96.7% in July. Meanwhile, Finnish borrowers continue to be verified at an almost perfect rate of 99.9%.
A slight decline, but continued origination strength
Bondora originations had an excellent run for seven straight months. And while this growth streak came to an end in August, originations still held firm, declining by only 2.0% to €11,584,049. Interest rates rose across the platform by 0.2%, and there was a strong distribution of Estonian originations across rating categories.
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