Swisspeers Analysis

Swisspeers launched in 2016 in Switzerland. It offers investments in peer-to-peer business loans from Swiss citizens to Swiss SMEs. It has funded CHF 133.18m worth of loans to date - see Swisspeers statistics for more historical performance insights.

• Strategic investment from an innovative Swiss bank
• Corporate loans to Swiss businesses based on an auction model
• 3%+ annual return with low default rates and a clear fee structure

Swisspeers offers investments in Swiss SMEs. Business loans offered on the platform can last from 6 to 60 months and vary from CHF 50,000 to CHF 1m. Loans come without collateral and are repaid in monthly instalments. Swisspeers uses a risk scoring system for each project from A+ (safest) to D- (highest interest). Investors bid on projects in an “auction model” – the borrower sets a maximum interest rate at which he is willing to borrow money (corresponding to their creditworthiness score). Then, investors can submit bids up to the set maximum interest rate. Eventually, investors with the lowest interest rates “win”, and a uniform interest rate is determined for all bids considered.

You can also access other investment options on Swisspeers, such as leasing financing (starting from CHF 5,000), mutual funds, and equity investments in specific projects (albeit in limited quantity).

Investors can buy and sell investments on a secondary market and use an auto-invest function to create personalised and automated portfolios.

According to Swisspeers, investors have achieved, on average, a 3.36% annual return. The average interest rate has stood at 5.26%. The approximate default rate is 1%, and about 3.5% of loans can be delayed by more than 30 days. 

Swisspeers charges investors a 0.5% per annum fee on the outstanding loan amount. The fees are automatically deducted from borrowers' monthly repayments. There is an additional transaction fee of CHF 195 on secondary market transactions. Borrower fees are detailed in the fee catalogue.  

Alwin Meyer, Andreas Hug and Stefan Nägeli founded Swisspeers and they hold managerial positions as CEO, CSO, and CTO.

Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) is a strategic investor in Swisspeers, holding “a significant minority stake” – the exact share has not been disclosed. Otherwise, the ownership structure is not clearly explained.

Swisspeers does not publish its financial reports.

Swisspeers uses blockchain to manage and validate loan agreements.

They publish Swisspeers Magazine about trends in SME investments in Switzerland.