Lendwise - Risk and return review
Lendwise - Returns and loss rates
Investment maturity
Lendwise – Platform statistics 2026
Lendwise – Pros & Cons
About Lendwise
What it is
Lendwise is a British peer-to-peer lending platform for education. Private lenders fund unsecured loans to people taking postgraduate degrees, such as MBAs and medical courses, or professional qualifications. Lendwise Ltd was set up in 2016, authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority in March 2018 and opened to lenders in May 2019. It has issued £91.9 million of loans, with £53.6 million still outstanding (as of September and October 2026). New lending slowed to £0.15 to £0.31 million a month from May to July 2026, then picked up to £2.6 million in August and £3.5 million in September.
How it works
You open a Classic account or an Innovative Finance ISA with a UK bank account, deposit money and lend from £10 per loan, by hand or with an automatic lending tool. Borrowers usually start repaying after their course ends and repay over several years; the platform's own example is a ten-year loan. Lenders receive the interest, less Lendwise's servicing fee. Interest is paid without tax deducted, unless held in the ISA.
Returns
Lendwise advertises estimated average returns of up to 9.0% a year, which it says is after expected defaults and its servicing fee (October 2026). This is an estimate, not a result: Lendwise has never published what lenders actually earned. Borrowers pay about 12.73% APR on average. Since launch lenders have received £12.1 million of interest and £40.7 million of principal back (to September 2026). Independent analysis points to about 5.7% a year after expected bad debts (May 2026).
Losses and defaults
Defaults are rising fast. On 15 October 2026, 9.73% of the outstanding loan balance (£5.2 million) was in default, meaning more than 90 days late or not expected to be repaid as agreed, and a further 2.84% (£1.5 million) was in arrears. The default rate in Lendwise's yearly outcomes statements went from 1.87% in 2023 to 3.66% in 2024 and 6.84% at the end of 2025, almost twice the 3.67% it had expected; it now expects 8.27% (1 July 2026). In total £6.0 million of loans have defaulted, and only £0.75 million (13%) has been recovered. That leaves £5.2 million, or 5.7% of everything ever lent, defaulted and not recovered (calculated from the platform's own figures, September 2026). Only £28,459 has been formally written off, so the write-off figure greatly understates the losses.
What secures your money
Nothing secures the loans. They are unsecured loans to individuals, repaid from their future earnings, with no guarantor, buyback, reserve fund or insurance, and no compensation scheme. When a borrower stops paying, Lendwise chases the debt through collection agencies and the courts on behalf of all lenders. Recoveries have been low: 13% of defaulted money overall, 75% and 62% on the small 2018 and 2019 loan years, but 9% to 16% on 2021 to 2023 loans and 2% on 2024 loans so far. In plain words: when a graduate does not repay, most of that money is lost.
Who runs it and its licence
Lendwise Ltd (company number 10466048, London) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference 782496) to run a peer-to-peer lending platform, and is an approved Innovative Finance ISA manager. Lenders' cash is held as client money in a pooled client bank account under the FCA's client money rules; the bank is not named. Investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The company files small-company accounts without an audit.
Fees
Lendwise takes a servicing fee from the interest borrowers pay, only when payments come in; the rate is shown per loan after you register, not publicly. Selling a loan on the secondary market costs the seller 1% of the sale price. Depositing and withdrawing are free.
Getting your money out
Money comes back slowly, as borrowers repay over many years after their studies. You can offer performing loans for sale to other lenders at their outstanding value plus interest, for a 1% fee, but loans in arrears or default cannot be sold, prices cannot be cut to attract a buyer, and Lendwise does not say how long a sale takes. Cash already repaid to your account can be withdrawn.
Our view
Return: Medium — up to 9.0% a year as an estimate after expected defaults; no actual return is published. Risk: Very High (higher means more risk) — 5.7% of all money lent has defaulted and not been recovered, and we rate it one step worse because defaults have risen every year to 9.73% of the loan balance, recoveries on unsecured loans are only 13% and no realised return is published. Risk-return: Very Low — a medium, estimated return for very high and rising credit losses on unsecured loans.
Regulation
License / Regulation: Lendwise Ltd (company number 10466048) is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference 782496, to operate an electronic system in relation to lending (peer-to-peer lending), and is an HMRC-approved Innovative Finance ISA manager (reference Z2028). Investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Functionality
For Investors
Useful Information
Yes. Lendwise Ltd is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference 782496) to run a peer-to-peer lending platform, and manages an Innovative Finance ISA. Your investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Uninvested cash is held as client money in a pooled Lendwise client bank account, under the FCA's client money rules; the bank is not named. Once lent, your money is with the student borrowers.
£10 per loan. To start, the invest page asks for a £1,000 deposit, while the lender terms mention £200.
Lendwise estimates up to 9.0% a year after expected defaults and fees, but has never published an actual return. 9.73% of the loan balance was in default on 15 October 2026, up from 6.84% at the end of 2025. Of £6.0 million defaulted in total, 13% has been recovered.
Nothing. The loans are unsecured, with no guarantor, buyback, reserve fund or insurance. If a borrower stops paying, Lendwise uses collection agencies and the courts, but only 13% of defaulted money has come back so far.
You can offer performing loans to other lenders at their outstanding value for a 1% fee, but late or defaulted loans cannot be sold and no sale time is promised. Otherwise money returns as borrowers repay over many years. Repaid cash can be withdrawn.
A servicing fee taken from the interest borrowers pay, shown per loan only after you register, and 1% of the sale price when you sell a loan. Deposits and withdrawals are free.
If a borrower fails, you share the loss, less any recovery. If Lendwise failed, your cash is held as client money, but the loans would need another firm to collect them. No compensation scheme applies.
Lendwise does not say. Its outcomes statements show the default rate roughly doubling each year, from 1.87% (2023) to 3.66% (2024) and 6.84% (2025), against an expected 3.67% for 2025. It has raised its expected default rate to 8.27% (1 July 2026).
