Hungary, Slovenia and Latvia rank amongst the best countries for the alternative lending sector, according to new research from peer-to-peer lending platform TWINO and KPMG.
In terms of the largest potential for the alternative finance sector in general, the highest ranking European countries are Poland, Greece and Ireland. Other countries that have proved susceptible to improvements in the sector include Hungary, Slovenia and Latvia.
The research conducted by peer-to-peer lending platform TWINO compared the availability of financing for household and corporate borrowers in a cross-section of European countries, with some showing significant differences between the availability for the two categories. In some countries, including Estonia, Hungary, Italy and Netherlands, indices for corporate lending were at least 2 index points lower.
Comparatively, in the UK the Index is significantly higher for corporate lending compared to households, indicating that alternative lending to households has less potential meaning that it’s easier for households to receive a loan.
According to the report, the aggregate European credit gap has gradually increased to 12 percentage points from GDP between 2010-2016, from close to a breakeven in 2010. In nominal terms this credit gap reached EUR 410 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2016, indicating development opportunities for alternative lenders.
Jevgenijs Kazanins, P2P Platform Lead at TWINO, says:
“Alternative lending in Europe has demonstrated remarkable growth since the financial crisis, yet the ECB does not currently intend to closely monitor its development. In the absence of an official industry metric, our Alternative Lending Index (ALI) highlights the health and growth potential of this sector, which is fast-becoming a significant part of Europe’s lending landscape.
“As our report shows, the alternative lending industry is showing great potential for growth in many European countries. As it becomes more unified across Europe, the need for a supervising body and regulation will become more pressing.”