CREDOFUNDING - Risk and return review
CREDOFUNDING - Returns and loss rates
Investment maturity
CREDOFUNDING – Platform statistics 2026
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investors
CREDOFUNDING – Pros & Cons
About CREDOFUNDING
What it is
CredoFunding is a French platform, based in Lyon and running since 2014, that raises money for the Christian, mostly Catholic, community: associations, dioceses, abbeys, Catholic schools and universities, care homes and like-minded companies. It mixes donations, which are never repaid, with loans, bonds and some share offers, which are investments. Its statistics page shows €68.7 million collected since launch across all of these, of which €30.7 million in loans, and 1,736 campaigns completed (figures headed 30 June 2026, read 27 October 2026).
How it works
You choose each project yourself. A loan is bought in units of €100; bonds and share offers set their own terms. Loans run two to seven years and bonds observed on the site up to eight years, repaid either in instalments or all at the end. There are no risk grades and no auto-invest. In 2025 the platform financed 12 investment projects for €7.2 million, with 935 lenders, and €2.5 million of donations.
Returns
The platform's annual report shows a weighted average rate of 3.59% a year on all 60 loan and bond projects financed since April 2016 (€29.0 million, as of 30 June 2026). After losses, it reports 3.57% a year. Rates have risen: projects financed in 2020 and 2021 return under 2% a year after losses, those financed in 2024 and 2025 over 5%, and projects on offer in August 2026 paid 3% to 6% a year, most often 4.5%. These rates are before the entry fee and before French tax.
Losses and defaults
Two projects have failed for good. €560,010 has been written off, which is 1.93% of all money lent since 2016 (calculated from the platform's own figures, 30 June 2026). That is up from 0.73% a year earlier, because a €390,000 loan then in court proceedings has since been written off. A third project, from 2024, is more than six months late or in insolvency proceedings, with €724,300 still owed, another 2.5% of all money lent. The platform's legal default rate is 1.72% since 2016, and its effective default rate 3.45%; both seem to count loans, not amounts. Two of its own rows do not match its losses: the cost of risk shows only 0.02% since launch, and the after-loss return is almost the same as the rate before losses. All these figures are published only as pictures in a PDF.
What secures your money
Nothing secures the loans and bonds. There is no mortgage, no pledge, no personal guarantee, no buyback, no reserve fund and no insurance, and the platform guarantees nothing. Repayment depends only on the borrower, often an association or religious community whose buildings no lender would realistically seize. Of the two failed projects, 42.9% of the money lent had been repaid before they failed (calculated from the platform's own figures); the rest was lost. For you, that means a failed borrower usually means a loss or a long wait.
Who runs it and its licence
CredoFunding SASU (Lyon companies register, share capital €242,419) is owned and chaired by its founder, Eric Didio, president since 2016. It holds a European crowdfunding licence from France's market regulator, the AMF (number FP-2023-23, granted 7 November 2023), for loans, bonds and shares; it cannot offer them in other EU countries. Donations and interest-free loans stay under its older French intermediary registration (ORIAS 14007012). Investors' money passes through Lemonway, a payment institution approved by the French banking supervisor, in segregated accounts.
Fees
Lenders pay a one-time entry fee of €18 per loan subscription, and bond buyers €15. On a €100 loan unit that fee is 18% of the amount, several years of interest. There are no ongoing fees for investors. Borrowers pay a file fee (€6,000 for loans, €5,000 for bonds), a success fee (6% for loans, 5% for bonds) and 0.83% of every repayment. Donors pay nothing.
Getting your money out
There is no secondary market: the platform says so itself. You get your money back only as the borrower repays, over up to eight years. The only other way out is to find a buyer yourself and tell the platform.
Our view
Return: Very Low — 3.59% a year on average since 2016. Risk: High (higher means more risk) — 1.93% of money lent is already lost and another 2.5% is in trouble, nothing secures the loans, and the platform's own figures do not agree with each other. Risk-return: Very Low — 3.57% a year after losses is a small reward for unsecured lending you cannot exit.
Regulation
License / Regulation: Crowdfunding service provider authorised by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), France, under the EU crowdfunding regulation: number FP-2023-23, granted 7 November 2023, for loans, bonds and shares; no passport to other EU countries. Donations and interest-free loans remain under its French crowdfunding intermediary registration, ORIAS 14007012.
Functionality
For Investors
For Fund Seekers
Useful Information
Yes. France's market regulator, the AMF, authorised it as a European crowdfunding service provider on 7 November 2023 (number FP-2023-23) for loans, bonds and shares. Donations and interest-free loans stay under its French intermediary registration (ORIAS 14007012).
Lemonway, a French payment institution approved by the banking supervisor (ACPR), holds it in segregated accounts, not CredoFunding. No deposit guarantee covers these accounts.
€100 per loan unit; donations start at €5. No minimum is published for bonds or shares. Keep in mind the €18 entry fee per loan subscription, which is 18% of a €100 unit.
Loans and bonds since 2016 paid a weighted average of 3.59% a year, and 3.57% after losses, according to the platform (30 June 2026). €560,010 has been written off, 1.93% of all money lent, and a further €724,300 (2.5%) is more than six months late or in insolvency proceedings.
Nothing. Loans and bonds carry no mortgage, pledge or personal guarantee, and there is no buyback, reserve fund or insurance. Repayment depends only on the borrower. On the two projects that failed, 42.9% of the money had been repaid before they failed; the rest was lost.
No. There is no secondary market. You are repaid as the borrower pays, over two to eight years; the only alternative is to find a buyer yourself.
A one-time €18 per loan subscription or €15 per bond subscription, and nothing after that. Donors pay nothing. Borrowers pay file and success fees and 0.83% of each repayment.
If a borrower fails, there is no security to sell, so you would likely lose part of your money or wait years. If CredoFunding itself failed, your uninvested cash is held apart at Lemonway, but someone would have to take over collecting the repayments. No compensation scheme covers your loans.
Check the project card before you pay. Donation campaigns never repay you, though they can give French tax relief. Loan and bond campaigns pay interest; share offers have no organised exit. Both kinds sit side by side on the same site.
