Lendahand - Risk and return review
Lendahand - Returns and loss rates
Lendahand – Platform statistics 2026
Lendahand – Pros & Cons
About Lendahand
What it is
Lendahand is a Dutch platform, run from Rotterdam by Hands-on B.V., that has lent investors' money to businesses in emerging markets since 2013. Most of the money goes to microfinance institutions and small banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which lend it on to small entrepreneurs. A smaller part goes straight to companies, mostly in solar energy and farming. In August 2026 it listed 57 financial institutions and 34 companies as borrowers.
How it works
You choose projects and lend from €10, in steps of €10; an auto-invest tool can do this for you. Loans run for 6 to 48 months, usually about 24, and pay interest and capital back about every six months. Current offers pay 5% to 8% a year (October 2026); the home page advertises up to 9%. Some loans are in US dollars, so their value in euros moves with the exchange rate.
Returns
Across all 3,557 projects since the start, the average interest rate was 4.16% a year (€188 million lent, as of 30 September 2026): 3.99% on loans to financial institutions and 6.07% on direct loans to companies. This is the agreed interest, before write-offs and currency swings. Rates have risen in recent years: the average was 6.6% in 2024 and 6.9% in 2025. The platform's own "expected return" of 6.5% deducts only the write-offs on its best-rated loans, not the whole book. On its loans to financial institutions, Lendahand reported a realised return of 3.9% a year from launch to mid-2024. Independent tracking of investor portfolios points to about 5% in 2025 after currency effects.
Losses and defaults
Since the start, 1.30% has been written off across all investments (as of 30 September 2026): only 0.21% on loans to financial institutions, but 4.80% on direct loans to companies. The platform's information page still headlines a lower 0.37%, which counts only its best-rated (A and B) investments.
The yearly default rate is low now: 0.74% for October 2025 to September 2026 (3 of 406 loans; a loan counts as defaulted when it is more than 90 days late or unlikely to be paid in full). But it moves a lot from year to year and between the two kinds of loan. Loans to financial institutions had no defaults in that year, while 3 of 13 direct company loans (23%) defaulted, and 46% of direct loans defaulted in the year to September 2024. Since the start, 6.14% of loan-years ended in default. Loans that are rescheduled are shown as "on time", so the arrears look smaller than they are.
What secures your money
Most loans are not secured. Loans to microfinance institutions are unsecured senior loans; some direct company loans carry a pledge or a guarantee from the owners. There is no buyback, reserve fund or insurance. Lendahand scores every borrower from A to E and since 2023 offers only A and B; it reviews borrowers' finances every three months and publishes late-payment figures for each financial institution. No figure for what came back from failed loans is published: for one company that failed in 2022 it expected about 40% back, and has not reported the final result. In plain words: loans to microfinance banks have rarely failed, but direct company loans fail often and have little security behind them.
Who runs it and its licence
The operator is Hands-on B.V. (Rotterdam, Dutch company number 55711766). The Dutch market regulator, the AFM, licensed it as a European crowdfunding service provider on 11 August 2022. It gave up its older investment-firm licence in early 2024. As a result, only notes issued before 11 August 2022 are still covered by the Dutch investor compensation scheme; newer loans are not.
Fees
Investing is free for investors: no account, deposit, investment or withdrawal fee. Borrowers pay Lendahand on average 3% a year, which is not taken from your interest. On US-dollar loans you carry the exchange-rate risk.
Getting your money out
You cannot sell your loans early: the notes cannot be resold and there is no secondary market. Your money comes back as the borrower repays, over 6 to 48 months, and later if a loan is rescheduled. Public review score 4.1 out of 5 (364 reviews, August 2026).
Our view
Return: Very Low — 4.16% a year on average across all projects since the start, before write-offs and currency swings. Risk: Medium (higher means more risk) — 1.30% has been written off overall, low for microfinance loans but 4.80% on direct company loans, and most loans are unsecured. Risk-return: Very Low — a low return for a medium level of risk.
Regulation
License / Regulation: Hands-on B.V., trading as Lendahand, is licensed by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) as a European crowdfunding service provider since 11 August 2022. It gave up its investment-firm licence in early 2024. Only notes issued before 11 August 2022 remain covered by the Dutch investor compensation scheme; later loans are not covered, and there is no deposit guarantee.
Functionality
For Investors
For Fund Seekers
Useful Information
Yes. Hands-on B.V., which runs Lendahand, is licensed by the Dutch regulator AFM as a European crowdfunding service provider since 11 August 2022. Only notes issued before that date are still covered by the Dutch investor compensation scheme.
Cash in your account is held in segregated accounts at Intersolve EGI, an electronic money institution supervised by De Nederlandsche Bank, through its client-money foundation. It is kept apart from Lendahand's own assets.
€10 per project, in steps of €10. You must be 18 or over with identification from a country of the European Economic Area.
Across all projects since the start, the average interest rate is 4.16% a year, and 1.30% of investments has been written off (30 September 2026). Losses come mostly from direct company loans (4.80% written off) rather than microfinance loans (0.21%). Current offers pay 5% to 8% a year.
Mostly nothing. Loans to microfinance institutions are unsecured; some direct company loans have a pledge or an owner's guarantee. There is no buyback, reserve fund or insurance, and no figure for recoveries from failed loans is published.
No. The notes cannot be resold and there is no secondary market. You get your money back as the borrower repays, over 6 to 48 months, and later if the loan is rescheduled.
None as an investor. Borrowers pay Lendahand about 3% a year on average, not taken from your interest. On US-dollar loans, exchange-rate movements can reduce what you receive in euros.
If Lendahand fails, the loans are held separately from its assets and are stated to be excluded from its bankruptcy, but collection would be disrupted. If a borrower fails, you share in whatever is recovered, which can take years; loans are first rescheduled, and written off only after bankruptcy or an agreed cut.
The information page headlines 0.37% written off, but that counts only A- and B-rated investments. The platform's full statistics show 1.30% written off across all investments and 4.80% on direct company loans (30 September 2026).
