Financial Services, Latvia, Loan

Viainvest was founded in August this year and is fully owned by VIA SMS Group, according to Firmas.lv business information database.

Viainvest is a peer-to-peer marketplace for both private and legal entities offering to invest into consumer loans originating from non-banking lenders.

Loans available for investment on Viainvest are originated by VIA SMS Group and its daughter companies across Europe, so investors are able to create diversified and secured investment portfolios. Currently, loans offered for investment on Viainvest are issued in the Czech Republic with EUR 290 the average amount of the loan. The total amount of these loans in the first six months of Viainvest operations will reach EUR 3 mln. Maturity of listed loans are up to 30 days, helping guarantee short term return on investment with 12% annual interest rate. All loan agreements available for investment within the Viainvest platform are secured with a buyback guarantee.

"We are planning to develop continuously by regularly expanding the list loan originators and become one of the leading peer-to-peer lending platforms in the Baltic states. Shortly we are planning to offer our clients to invest in loans originated in Spain with a total amount that will reach EUR 2.4 mln in the first six months of Viainvest operations. It will also be followed by other countries," says Eduards Lapkovskis, Board Member of Viainvest.

In the first half of this year VIA SMS Group posted EUR 657,064 in profit after taxes and its net turnover was EUR 7.84 mln.

VIA SMS Group, an online lender operating in Eastern Europe, provides loans without collateral to individuals since 2009. It operates under the brands VIA SMS, SAVA Card, VIA CREDIT, and VIA CONTO, and offers loans for up to 12 months in Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Spain.