FastInvest Review

As always, I would like everyone to know that this is an 100% impartial and unbiased review of FastInvest.

What Is FastInvest?

Founded in 2015, FastInvest is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace registered in the United Kingdom but their main office is in Kaunas, Lithuania. They also have offices in both the UK and Lithuania. The postal addresses belong to companies like Regus though, these companies provide office space and virtual addresses so I don’t know if they have an actual physical presence there. FastInvest offers its investors the chance to invest in short-term consumer-based loans issued in European countries. All loans in their marketplace are for a duration up to 12 months and come with Buyback Guarantee. Minimum investment in the platform is 1€.

Rates

Rates on FastInvest range between 9%-13% for loans issued EUR and go as high as 16% for loans issued in Polish Zloty.

Loan liquidity

FastInvest offers a large number of loans mainly from Poland, Spain and Denmark so you will not have any cash drag issues.

Buyback Guarantee

FastInvest’s terminology used to be a bit different than other platforms. What used to call “Default Guarantee” what is usually called Buyback guarantee and Buyback guarantee means selling the loans back to FastInvest. Thankfully they changed this and now they renamed the “Default Guarantee” as “Buyback Guarantee” and the “Default Guarantee” as “MoneyBack Guarantee” to avoid confusion.

• MoneyBack Guarantee
  If you decide to stop investing in a selected loan and sell the investment (at any time before the scheduled full payment date), they will buy back your investment in 1 business day, guaranteed. It is important to note that you will lose all interest earned through this process. However, you will get your invested funds back. The following icon indicates these loans come with BuyBack Guarantee.

• Buyback Guarantee
  FastInvest will buy back loans in full with accrued interest for the period you held the loan if a borrower is over 3 days late (Yes, that’s right, no typo, only three days). This is great as it can provide a more dependable cash flow forecast. The following icon indicates these loans are secured with Default Guarantee.

Auto-invest

FastInvest offers the possibility of auto-investing. The platform offers 3 strategies but, to be honest, I don’t use auto invest often and when I do I opt for the manual configuration of the auto invest parameters which are easy to set up. After you select your investment parameters, Auto invest will automatically invest in loans that match your profile. Keep in mind you can edit or pause any auto invest strategy. Please check the following screenshots to review the auto invest interface.

Risks

Since all loans on FastInvest come with both Buyback and Default Guarantee the risk is whether the loan originator will be able to fulfill their promise to you. For more information about peer-to-peer lending risks please check the “What Is Peer-to-Peer Lending” article.

Secondary Market

FastInvest doesn’t have a secondary market and this is one of the few drawbacks of the platform. They do have what they call Buyback Guarantee which gives you the ability to sell the loan back to them with no additional fees. Keep in mind that you will not receive any interest for the time you held the loans.

Fees

FastInvest charges no fees for investing in their platform

Transparency

Much like many p2p lending platforms, FastInvest uses multiple loan originators, which is good, since it spreads the risk. Unfortunately, they do NOT disclose the names or the number of the loan originators they work with. I am a bit concerned about the quality of the loan originators and the secrecy that FastInvest operates in, but I hope they will be more transparent in the future. There are also reports claiming that FastInvest’s employees posed as investors and left positive reviews online. I don’t know if that’s true but I will write it here and you can draw your own conclusions whether this is bad or tolerable.

FastInvest Sign Up Process

The sign up process is pretty simple. You can click here and go through the steps as they are on the screenshots below. The info requested are very limited and you don’t need to upload any identification documents until you want to withdraw your funds from the platform. The entire process is pretty simple and it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes.

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FastInvests’ Competitors

You might also want to check platforms check platforms like Mintos, Grupeer, Lenndy, ViaInvest, Viventor, PeerBerry, Robo.cash, Iuvo and DoFinance. Also, if you want to try something riskier, you can try Bondora. I will be reviewing them separately as I invest in some of them. You can click here to check platform reviews and here to see the bonuses that some of them provide.

FastInvest Review – Conclusion

To be honest, I like the platform’s design and features, especially the buyback and default guarantee which goes into effect in just 3 days. That is the only platform that does that so this is its main selling point. I don’t like the low level of transparency the platform provides to its investors but the combination of high-yielding loans and also the terms of its default guarantee make this platform a decent alternative and one that is difficult to pass by. I will probably keep adding to the platform in order to diversify a little since most of my portfolio is with Mintos now. You can also check their website for more information.

If you would like to add something about FastInvest please leave your comments below.

Until Next Time,
Peter