MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Estonian Lending Website isePankur.ee Launches Social Banking Software

The Estonian peer-to-peer lending website isePankur.ee has partnered with Helmes, an Estonian information technology company, to sell social banking software and related support services. isePankur reports that it is currently negotiating with both major international banks and start-ups to bring the software and services to their customers [1].

isePankur allows its members to loan each other as little as EUR 5 (USD 6.50) and reports having provided lenders an average annualized return of about 19 percent. In addition to managing peer-to-peer lending websites in countries such as Estonia, Finland and Sweden, the company develops and sells financial software in countries such as the United Kingdom [1]. While the scale of the operation has not been made public, isePankur reports having generated a profit margin of 56 percent in 2011.

By Natalie Baer, Research Associate

About isePankur: isePankur, established in 2008, is a peer-to-peer lending platform that allows individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises to borrow and lend to each other. The company has been acknowledged as the “Best Estonian E-service of 2011” by the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the State Informatics Centre and was a quarter-finalist at the World Summit Awards of 2011. Since the tightening of its risk management policies in 2010, lenders at isePankur have had annualized returns of 19 percent. Recently, the company has expanded offerings to include software sales and technology licensing to social banking and other online lending companies. isePankur reports having generated a 56-percent profit margin in 2011.

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] Information provided by isePankur to MicroCapital.org

MicroCapital Universe profile: isePankur
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=isePankur

MicroCapital story, May 5, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 17 Websites Now Allow Individuals to Commit as Little as USD 20 as Microfinance Loans” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-17-websites-now-allow-individuals-to-commit-as-little-as-usd-20-as-microfinance-loans/

MicroCapital story, February 25, 2012 “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Capgemini Group, MicroWorld Launch Digital Microfinance Platform” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-capgemini-group-microworld-launch-digital-microfinance-platform/

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