In November, Bondora originations topped €20M for the first time in over two years. December, however, came in slightly lower, with €16,678,471’s worth of loans being originated. Despite this being less than the previous month, it’s still far above the average for 2021 originations, which is just below €12M.
Country breakdown
In December, originations decreased by 18.8% to a total of €16,678,471. Finland still holds the highest amount—€9,376,372—and the largest loan percentage share—56.2%. Estonian loans make up 42.7% of the loan portfolio, and Spanish loans 1,1%.
As we saw in November, Spain continues to have the highest growth rate, increasing its total originations by 64.6% to €187,722. We expect this growth to continue, but only time will tell. Estonian originations decreased again, this time by 21.8%, coming to a total of €7,114,377’s worth of originations.
When it comes to average interest rates, we saw an overall drop of 0.95%. But when looking more closely, this drop comes mainly from the Estonian interest rate, which fell by 0.55%. The average Spanish interest rate remained virtually unchanged (+0.01%), and the average Finnish rate increased by 0.16%.
Spain is still only originating C-rated loans, making up 1.1% of all loans. C-rated loans in Finland increased their share, going from 20.5% in November to 35.8% in December. Finnish B-rated loans make up the second-biggest share of all loans, with 19.1%. In Estonia, B-rated loans still make up the most significant share. In contrast to November, F-rated loans increased slightly. A and AA-rated loans also increased in Estonia.
Loan amounts
The average loan amount decreased in December for all countries except Spain. The latter increased its average loan amount by 37.2% to €2,607. Estonian originations decreased for the 3rd consecutive month, falling by 8.8% in December. Finnish loan origination amounts also fell for the 3rd time by 6.0%.
Loan duration
Again, Estonia and Finland saw decreases, but Spain increased, even if it was ever so slightly by just one month. Estonian loans decreased the most, averaging 17 months shorter than in November. Finland decreased by an average of 14 months. Interestingly enough, all three countries now have similar length durations; Spain leads with 57 months, and Finland and Estonia are trailing with 56 months.
One consistent trend is the popularity of 60-month loans across all our markets. In all three markets, this duration had the overwhelming majority. In Estonia, 1,996 loans were issued, in Spain 61, and Finland 2,666 loans.
Average age
No significant changes occurred in December for borrowers’ average age. For the 3rd month, borrowers from Finland were aged 43 on average. The average Estonian and Spanish borrower are both aged 38, up slightly from the numbers in November.
Income
The average net income for Estonian borrowers jumped back to figures like October, making quite the dramatic leap with 75.5%. Finnish borrowers’ net income also increased by a more subtle 5.1%. Spanish borrowers’ income continues to decline this month by 4.1%.
Education
In Spain, high school education makes up most of the borrowers (45.8%), followed by those with a university degree (41.7%). The remaining 12.5% are divided amongst Junior high (9.7%) and Vocational school qualifications (2.8%). In Estonia, the trend remains more or less the same, as most borrowers tend to have High school (40.8%) and Vocational school qualifications (23.6%). As we saw last month, Finnish-based borrowers have predominantly Vocational school qualifications (51.3%), followed by University degrees (24.9%).
Employment
2,161 borrowers were employed for more than 5 years, accounting for 35.2% of all Bondora borrowers—slightly higher than in November. Those employed for up to 5 years accounted for the 2nd largest share of all borrowers, making up 28.9%. Retirees are still the least populated segment, accounting for just 7.3% of all borrowers.
Homeownership status
Finnish homeownership increased again, with most borrowers (43.5%) from this market owning property. Declining from November, tenants make up 40.3% of all Finnish borrowers. In Estonia, the trend is similar, with most borrowers owning their homes (42.5%) and the second-biggest share of borrowers renting (21.9%). In Spain, most borrowers are tenants (34.7%), and homeowners only make up 11.1% of all borrowers. The second-biggest category in Spain is ‘living with parents’, with 23.6% of all borrowers falling under this category.
Verification status
Spain maintained its 100% verification rate for the 4th month, but Finland broke its streak with one unverified borrower. Estonia maintained its high verification rate at 99.2% for the second month in a row. This brings the total verification rate to 99.6%—the same as in November.
Conclusion
We ended the year with a total of €16,678,471 in December originations. And although it was an 18.8% decline from November, it’s still one of the highest figures for 2021. Let’s see what 2022 will bring for our loan origination statistics.
