After the growth slump due to the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, crowdfunding lending volumes continue to rise and reach a new all-time high in 2021.
The latest publication of the Crowdfunding Monitor by the Lucerne School of Business once again discusses the market development of crowdlending in Switzerland. Figure 1 shows the volumes of new loans issued via Swiss crowdlending platforms from 2012 to 2021. The platforms managed to get back on the pre-COVID-19 trend and the volume increased by 35.5 percent in 2021. The total volume climbed from CHF 448.0 million to CHF 607.0 million and reached another all time high.
Recovery after Covid-19 crisis
The crowdlending segment recorded a volume of CHF 607.0 million in 2021 (2020: CHF 448.0 million). The volume thus grew by 35.5 percent. Also the number of successfully transacted loans rose from 2,323 to 3,055. The significant increase in the number of loans can be attributed, among other things, to the discontinuation of Covid-19 loans, which were guaranteed by the Confederation and interest-free (up to a volume of CHF 500,000). Between 26 March and 31 July 2020, businesses could submit streamlined loan applications to banks to bridge Corona-related liquidity shortages. This loan offering ceased in 2021. Accordingly, the number of loans concluded in 2021 is now back at the pre-Corona crisis levels of 2019.
Subsegments matter
Loans granted through crowdlending vary depending on the subsegment: in the case of loans to SMEs, the average loan was around CHF 260,000 (2020: approx. CHF 330,000). In the case of consumer crowdlending, the average loan amount remained almost constant at around CHF 34,000 (the figure was CHF 18,000 back in 2013 and has risen steadily in the interim). It is safe to assume that these average loan volumes will now remain at the current level, as they are almost identical to an average consumer loan in Switzerland.[1] The average loan amount in the real estate crowdlending subsegment in 2021 was around CHF 1.2 million (same as in 2020).
Average Investment Volumes
On average, an investor contributed CHF 14,000 to an SME loan in 2021. The figure for consumer loans was around CHF 8,000. Institutional investors, in particular, are becoming increasingly important and invest significantly higher volumes than private individuals. In the subsegment of real estate crowdlending, the average capital invested is CHF 107,000.
You would like to know more?
The Marketplace Lending Report 2022 will be published later this year. It provide information on the risk and return figures of its members, the number of loans issued during 2020, a survey on challenges faced by Swiss lending platforms, and a much broader look at the market, including all forms of online debt financing in Switzerland.
For now, you can read the full Crowdfunding Monitor 2021 or you can visit our statistics section for more details.
[1] ZEK – Verein zur Führung einer Zentralstelle für Kreditinformation (Swiss central credit information bureau) (2022). Annual Report 2020. p. 13.