Swaper review 2025
Read this Swaper review to learn if the platform is for you.
Swaper
Pros
Cons
Swaper review summary:
Swaper is one of the better European P2P lending platforms for short-term lending. On the platform, you can invest in pre-funded short-term consumer loans from Poland, Denmark, and Spain. All loans in the marketplace start at 14% annual interest. But if you invest over €25,000, you will get an additional +2% on your investments. Compared to other platforms, this return is extraordinary. With a buyback guarantee on loans and a profitable company, Swaper is quite safe for investors, but not without risks. Overall, Swaper is an excellent option for investors looking for high returns and low investment minimums, but it is not suitable for risk-averse investors.
It’s 100% free to open an account
Introduction to our Swaper review
We researched the Swaper platform and outlined its pros, cons, and comparable alternatives in our Swaper review. If you’re thinking about investing through Swaper, it’s a good idea to read our observations carefully. You can navigate to specific topics or go through the entire review. Please note, this is just our opinion and not financial advice.
Learn about the following in our Swaper review:
- What is Swaper?
- What is the return on Swaper?
- Is it safe to invest on Swaper?
- Who can invest on Swaper?
- How to invest on Swaper?
- How to withdraw money from Swaper?
- What are the problems with Swaper?
- What are the best Swaper alternatives?
- Conclusion of our Swaper review
What is Swaper?
Swaper is an Estonian peer-to-peer lending platform launched in October 2016. It specializes in short-term consumer loans and vehicle leasing contracts, primarily issued by loan originators such as Wandoo Finance Group and One Leasing.
Swaper works by matching the funds of individual investors with short-term loan requests. Investors select the loans they want to fund, and in exchange, they receive interest payments. Swaper also provides a buyback guarantee for overdue loans, typically after 60 days of delay, offering added protection against borrower default.
The platform has around 5,700 investors and has collectively funded approximately €760,000,000 in loans so far. Investors can start lending with as little as €10 in exchange for a predetermined return, often up to around 14–16% annually.
Swaper Platform OÜ is not regulated, as it is not required in the jurisdiction in which it operates.
Swaper statistics:
| Launched: | 2016 |
| Investors: | 5,700 + |
| Interest rate: | 14 – 16% |
| Loan period: | 1 – 2 months |
| Loan type: | Consumer |
| Loans funded: | € 760,000,000 + |
| Min. investment: | € 10 |
| Max. investment: | Unlimited |
Swaper Trustpilot rating
Swaper has received a TrustScore of 3.3/5 based on 31 reviews on Trustpilot. While investors praise its high interest rates, buyback guarantee, and user-friendly interface, some have raised concerns about cash drag, delayed or extended loans, and limited transparency regarding the loan originator Wandoo Finance. Nonetheless, many users continue to endorse Swaper for its consistent returns and straightforward experience in the P2P lending space.
What is the return on Swaper?
Swaper’s average annual investment return is 14.20%. This places the platform on the higher side compared to many other P2P lending marketplaces, where typical returns often range between 9% and 15%. Higher returns often indicate higher risk, so investors should carefully assess their risk appetite before committing funds.
In practice, investors sometimes see effective yields on Swaper drop closer to 10%. This reduction is primarily due to cash drag, wherein funds remain idle awaiting suitable loans, which lowers the overall effective yield.
The interest rates on Swaper are fixed at 14%. While these rates may suggest potentially high returns, they also imply that investors are taking on a higher level of risk relative to platforms with lower advertised returns.
Swaper loyalty program:
The Swaper loyalty program is structured to reward high-net-worth investors who maintain a substantial portfolio with the platform. It offers a significant 2% bonus on new investments for clients investing €25,000 or more, or the equivalent in GBP, and maintaining that account value for at least three months.
- Flat 2% bonus for maintaining €25,000+ for three months.
Compared to other platforms, Swaper’s loyalty program provides the highest bonus percentage available, which could be extremely appealing for investors capable of meeting the €25,000 threshold. For investments under €25,000, Hive5 provides more attractive options with earlier and incremental reward thresholds starting at €5,000.
Swaper fees:
There are no fees on Swaper. Both opening an investment account, adding funds, and withdrawing funds are free of charge. It is currently also free to sell loans on the secondary market.
But as you can see above, the sale of loans on the secondary market is a subject that may change in the future.
How does Swaper handle taxes?
Swaper does not withhold taxes from investors’ earnings unless you are subject to taxation in Estonia. This makes it easier to handle your taxes compared to some regulated competitors such as Mintos, NEO Finance, VIAINVEST and TWINO, which do withhold a portion of your earnings for tax purposes.
Tax report
Swaper provides a tax report to simplify declaring your earnings to local authorities. You can download your income statement in your dashboard on the platform.
Is it safe to invest on Swaper?
Swaper is one of the safest P2P lending platforms in Europe. It has been operating reliably since 2016, with no capital loss reported for investors. 89% of the loans on Swaper are current, and all loans come with a buyback guarantee to protect investors.
Unregulated platform
Swaper Platform OÜ itself is not regulated, but it is owned by the profitable Wandoo Finance Group, which suggests the platform is legitimate and not a scam.
Profitability
Swaper is an unprofitable P2P lending platform that generated a net loss of €100,739 in 2023. The platform has been in and out of profitability since its operational launch.
| Year | Net profit/loss |
|---|---|
| 2023 | -100,739 euros |
| 2022 | 130,477 euros |
| 2021 | 114,478 euros |
| 2020 | 88,979 euros |
| 2019 | 404,233 euros |
Loan originators
Swaper has 2 loan originators in 3 countries that deal in 3 different loan types, resulting in a narrower diversification profile compared to larger marketplaces such as Mintos or PeerBerry.
Swaper requires loan originators to retain 0-10% skin in the game on each loan, which is slightly less than the industry norm of 5-10%. By holding a portion of the loan themselves, originators share the risk with investors. This shared responsibility typically encourages more careful underwriting and discourages reckless lending practices.
Swaper buyback guarantee
On Swaper, all loans are covered by a 60-day buyback guarantee. This means that if a borrower is more than 60 days late with repayments, the loan originator automatically repurchases the loan from the investor along with accrued interest.
The Swaper buyback guarantee has a duration of 60 days, which is the industry standard. This is longer compared to Robocash and Loanch, which offer the shortest buyback duration on the market at 30 days.
Investors should keep in mind that the reliability of the Swaper buyback obligation depends on the financial stability of the loan originators. If the loan originators are unable to buy back the loans, the buyback guarantee becomes worthless.
Two-factor authentication
Swaper offers two-factor authentication (2FA) to strengthen account security. This feature works with the Google Authenticator app, generating unique, time-based passcodes that protect investor funds from unauthorized access. Since hackers have targeted P2P lending platforms in the past, enabling 2FA is strongly recommended.
Who can invest on Swaper?
To be able to invest with Swaper, it is a requirement that you are a resident of a country in the European Union, European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland or the United Kingdom (UK). You will be considered a resident if you are a citizen, have a residence permit, or pay taxes in one of these countries.
In addition, your bank must also be from an EEA country, and you are required to be at least 18 years old.
If you meet the requirements above, it is possible for you to invest through the platform.
At the time of writing, there are investors on Swaper from the countries marked in red on the map below:
If you are looking for other platforms that are available outside of Europe, you should check out Bondster or Lendermarket instead.
Would you like to invest through Swaper? Then press the button below. It will lead you directly to the Swaper website. From here you can learn more about the platform, and also create an account. That way, also you can enjoy the high return loans with buyback guarantees on their platform:
How to invest on Swaper?
Before you can start investing on Swaper, you must complete the following steps:
- Sign up on the Swaper website.
- Verify your identity.
- Complete the KYC questionnaire.
- Deposit funds into your account.
The entire registration process usually takes about 5-10 minutes, including signing up, verifying your identity, filling out any required questionnaires, and making your first deposit.
You can deposit money into your Swaper account using SEPA transfers. The minimum deposit is €0.01, and funds typically arrive within 1-3 business days. It is only possible to deposit funds in Euros (EUR) or British Pounds (GBP).
Once you have funded your account, you can start investing in P2P loans on the platform. Swaper supports only automatic investing. Unlike competitors such as PeerBerry and Mintos, it does not offer the option to invest manually.
Swaper auto-invest
Swaper provides an auto-invest feature to automatically allocate funds into suitable loan investments based on each investor’s predefined criteria, saving time and simplifying the investment process.
The auto-invest tool enables you to configure key parameters, including portfolio size, maximum investment per loan, interest rate, loan term, loan type, loan status, and countries. You can also automatically reinvest all returns.
Setting up a Swaper auto-invest strategy only takes 1 minute, and your funds should be invested within a few hours. If your auto-invest is not working, it is usually due to a lack of loans that meet your criteria. This can happen when your filters are too narrow or when no suitable loans are available.
Swaper app
Swaper provides a dedicated mobile app for both Android and iOS devices. This feature sets Swaper apart, as only a handful of its competitors currently provide mobile apps.
The Swaper app allows you to review your investments and set up auto-invest strategies. It also provides real-time updates and a user-friendly dashboard.
The app has a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars and has been downloaded over 5,000 times, making it a decent option for on-the-go investors.
How to withdraw money from Swaper?
You can withdraw your uninvested funds from Swaper at any time using the withdrawal section of your investor account. The minimum withdrawal amount is €10 and it usually takes 1-2 business days for your funds to arrive in your bank account.
Swaper does not charge any fees for withdrawing funds from your account, but your bank may charge fees for receiving international transfers.
To exit Swaper, you must first turn off all auto-invest strategies and sell any existing loans on the secondary market. If you hold non-performing loans, the platform must first recover the underlying debt before allowing withdrawals, which can negatively affect your liquidity.
Swaper secondary market
Swaper offers a secondary market for all its investments, enabling investors to sell their loans before maturity. The secondary market does not have any fees for sellers.
Swaper’s secondary market effectively works like an internal buyback mechanism in which Swaper repurchases your loan and then reassigns it to other investors.
Compared to platforms such as Mintos or TWINO, where investors can view active listings, set discounts or premiums, and trade directly, the Swaper model is less flexible and leaves pricing decisions solely to the platform.
What are the problems with Swaper?
The primary problem with Swaper is frequent cash drag with no loans available for investment.
Cash drag
Swaper frequently experiences cash drag on loans, where high investor demand outpaces loan availability, resulting in idle funds and potentially reduced returns. During periods of low loan supply, it can take several days to invest €100 and up to a month for amounts exceeding €1,000.
Swaper’s cash drag is a major disadvantage compared to other platforms like Mintos and Esketit, which don’t usually experience cash drag.
What are the best Swaper alternatives?
Some of the best alternatives to Swaper are Hive5, Esketit and Lendermarket. These platforms offer high yields and tend to experience less cash drag compared to Swaper.
Conclusion of our Swaper review
Swaper is one of the best P2P lending platforms in Europe for short-term loans thanks to stable interest rates of 14% and an attractive 2% loyalty bonus. The platform sets itself apart from competitors by maintaining a profitable business model and publishing annual reports for added transparency.
While Swaper offers high returns, easy tax reporting, and a user-friendly mobile app, it experiences frequent cash drag and relies on a single loan originator, increasing loan originator risk.
Swaper may be worth it for investors seeking elevated yields with minimal starting capital. It might not be a fit for risk-averse individuals or those requiring diversified loan originators. If you seek broader diversification, you might want to find another P2P lending platform.
