Savy
Savy is a p2p platform where you invest in Lithuanian consumer and business loans. In this review, we rate it a 7. Returns can be high, but so can defaults. While the track record appears solid and the platform is easy to use, it is not our first choice for investors outside the Baltics, due to its local focus, payment options and limited supply.
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Note: online investing through Savy carries risks, and you may lose (a part of) your investment
What characterizes Savy?
Savy is a p2p platform where you invest in loans to consumers and businesses in Lithuania. The platform has been active since 2014, holds an ECSP license and is supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. This means it operates within a regulated environment.
The platform has a long track record but is mainly focused on the local market. You invest in loans that Savy originates and manages itself, without external loan originators. Interest rates are high and there is a user-friendly Auto Invest feature.
Investors often compare Savy to platforms such as Mintos, PeerBerry and Bondora.
Invest via Mintos, with 11.62% average return, or Debitum focused on business loans. Both are MiFID-licensed and top-rated by Investmentplatforms.eu. Investing involves risks. You may lose your investment.
Registration
The onboarding process at Savy is simple and fast. You create an account and complete a short verification. In our case, this was very quick because Savy uses Paysera. As we already had an account there, we did not need to provide ID again for KYC.
If you do not yet have a Paysera account, you first need to create one to obtain an wallet.
Getting an IBAN via Paysera
Savy does not offer alternative payment methods, which means that after registering with Savy, you also need to create a Paysera account. There you open a personal IBAN, which is used to fund your investments on Savy.
The app requires registration with your email address and phone number. You then complete a KYC process by submitting personal details, an ID document and a selfie.
It is a small extra step compared to other platforms, and it means sharing your data with an additional party. It may also involve extra costs. During our onboarding, for example, we were charged 0.16 euro for text messages.
Usability
The platform appears mainly optimized for local users, but also offers an English dashboard. It is largely built around Auto Invest strategies, which work well and make it easy to diversify without manual selection.
The minimum investment is 10 euro and the information per loan is clear. However, supply can be limited, which means it may take time before your balance is fully invested. The platform of Savy is easy to use and customer service is fast, especially via chat, although responses can be brief for new users. They do not provide investment advice, and they also do not offer support regarding your balance, as this is handled through Paysera.
Loan offering
Savy offers a mix of consumer and business loans to residents of Lithuania. Most loans are personal loans. These are often short-term loans of up to 5000 euro, with relatively high interest rates and different risk classes.
Many loans are refinancings of existing debt, such as credit cards, overdrafts or buy now pay later loans. This can be sensitive, as regulators warn that these types of debt can become normalized, especially among younger and more vulnerable groups.
Volume
The number of available loans varies, but overall volume is limited compared to larger p2p platforms. As a result, it may take time before enough loans match your Auto Invest settings. We started with the premade defensive program, which initially had no available loans.
Most investors use Auto Invest, which means you may also need to wait your turn. The standard settings are solid, but you can adjust them manually. For example, you can lower the maximum per loan from 500 euro to 100 euro to increase diversification. This may slow down full allocation. In our case, only one matching loan became available the next day.
Secondary market
Savy offers a secondary market if you want to exit early. Due to limited supply, you can often sell loans at their outstanding value. If you want to sell a larger volume quickly, you can offer a small discount.
Returns and costs
Returns depend on the selected loans and risk level, but are relatively high compared to other European p2p platforms. We chose the defensive program, which targets a return of 8 percent. In the aggressive program, this can increase to nearly 20 percent per year.
That looks attractive, but Savy indicates that around 7 percent of that plan becomes delayed and more than 6 percent defaults. In the conservative program, this is less than half, but interest rates are also significantly lower. Across the platform, the share of late loans currently stands at 5.25 percent.
Your actual return therefore depends mainly on interest rates and realized defaults. The first 6 months you can invest for free. After that, you pay 1 euro per month in service fees. If you stop active investing, you no longer pay service fees.
Reliability and risks
Savy is a regulated platform with an ECSP license and is supervised by the Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos bankas). It has been active since 2014 and has funded over 160 million euro in loans. The platform also co-invests in its loans.
Savy operates without external loan originators. It originates and manages the loans itself. This means credit risk sits directly with the platform and the underlying borrowers. Loans are generally unsecured. You depend on borrower repayments and Savy’s recovery process. Outcomes can vary per loan.
Review score: 7
We rate Savy a 7. It has a clear focus, a well-functioning Auto Invest feature and high interest rates. The platform originates and manages loans itself, so you are fully dependent on Savy for selection and recovery. At the same time, it has been active since 2014 and shows a stable track record.
However, it is strongly focused on the local market, both for investors and borrowers. Payment options are limited and the loan supply is relatively small, with little geographic diversification. Despite its ECSP license and track record, we consider it less suitable as a first step for investors outside the Baltics.