The other evening I received a promotional e-mail from Mintos.com marketplace informing about investment opportunities in Kazakhstan - Kredit24 joins the Mintos marketplace and offers Kazakhstan-issued loans
As the so-called Former Soviet Union investment area has been on my radar for a while, and I've been actively investing in the Baltics and Georgia, the idea of investing in Kazakhstan sounds appealing to me.
Do you want to invest in Kazakhstan loans? For the first time on Mintos, now you can. We are delighted to announce that Kredit24 has joined the Mintos marketplace and its short-term consumer loans in both euro (EUR) and Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) are available for investment. Kazakhstan is the first Central Asia country to be added to the Mintos marketplace.
With minimum wage in Kazakhstan set at around 72$ (24459 KZT) in 2017 - I'm not surprised seeing interest rates such high as 21%, there is only one catch - national currencies in former Soviet space are volatile, from my personal experience with Georgian Lari and overall observations - I would not probably invest in Kazakhstani Tenge currency issued loans.
Kazakhstani Tenge EUR exchange rates (Source)
As of writing this article, there are 16 loans issued in Kazakhstan by Kredit 24
Kazakhstan loans on Mintos.com
Loans are available both in EUR and KZT currencies, currently, 20% annual interest rate is available for short-term loans in KZT value. I believe Kredit24 right now is just testing the platform and hopefully will increase loan supply. With just 16 loans available it's not very interesting to me.
You can invest in Kazakhstan-issued loans from Kredit24 in both EUR and KZT. The average loan on Mintos is EUR 100 with a repayment period of 30 days. For EUR loans, the expected return is up to 11% per annum. For KZT you can expect an annual return of up to 21%. Kredit24 instalment loans with longer maturities will be placed on the marketplace soon.
Kredit24 ensures all loans delinquent for more than 60 days will be bought back by the company. It will also keep 10% of each loan on the marketplace on its balance sheet to keep its skin in the game.
Kredit24 is a pioneer in offering online micro-loans in Kazakhstan. It is a member of Silkway Ventures, the fast-growing international group of tech companies focusing on consumer finance and financial price comparison in Central and Southeast Asia. With the holding company based in Singapore, Silkway Ventures is a privately owned group that currently employs 120+ staff in three countries and consistently delivers double-digit annual growth for the past eight years.
Kredit24 started its operations in 2013 and plans to expand into other countries in the region soon. The company’s services are delivered completely online and borrowers can get a loan in just a few minutes. Repeat customers can get a loan 24/7. Kredit24 offers flexible repayment terms. Because of its unique business model, since its inception the company has attracted 400 000 registered clients in Kazakhstan and has issued over EUR 14.5 million in loans.
“We have investor backing and are cash flow positive, but because of our fast-growing loan portfolio, we want to diversify our funding sources for loans issued. We see working with a European fintech player like Mintos as the next step in our development and are proud to be the first loan originator from Kazakhstan on the Mintos marketplace. Kazakhstan’s online finance market is growing quite rapidly, but there is still a lot of room for further expansion of our business in the country,”
says CEO of Kredit24, Alexey Sidorov.
There are two ways to invest in KZT loans on Mintos: transferring KZT directly to your investor’s account on Mintos or by converting your primary currency into KZT on the Mintos marketplace. For EUR to KZT conversions on Mintos, there is a market-level fee of 3.6%. Find out more details on “Deposit/Withdraw/FX” section in your investor’s account.
