The partnership improves credit scoring models using APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) enabling more efficient and accurate financing of SMEs in Romania. Fagura aims to issue loans to micro and small businesses worth over €9 million until the end of 2025. Over 500 small entrepreneurs could be financed through crowd-lending, faster, with less bureaucracy and potentially no collateral. Users of Lendrise will be able to invest wisely on crowd-lending platforms.
In an important move within the Romanian fintech sector, Fagura, the innovative crowd lending platform and Lendrise, a leading financial inclusion proponent, have announced a strategic partnership that marks a significant step in the use of locally developed credit scoring models for financing SMEs in Romania.
Crowd lending allows companies to finance themselves through a large and diverse group of people, without having to go to a bank. In the crowdlending model people lend small amounts of money to a company in exchange for a financial return stipulated in a loan agreement.
“Through its innovative business model, Fagura intermediated over €5 million since 2019 in Republic of Moldova alone. Over the years, it gained the trust from reputable financial institutions like USAID, EBRD and EFSE who collectively contributed to the development of its product and funding disbursement in the country. As for Romania, Fagura aims to issue loans to micro and small businesses worth over €9 million until the end of 2025. This will be complemented by financial services relevant to the SME community of which more communication will be given in due course.” – said Cristian Pasa, Chief Operational Officer at Fagura.
By integrating Lendrise’s comprehensive platform to obtain credit history data, Fagura will enhance its credit scoring model, enabling more efficient and accurate financing of SMEs in Romania. This synergy not only demonstrates the power of collaborative innovation in fintech but also paves the way for more robust and inclusive financial services in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region.
“The credit scoring model at Fagura is carried out on two levels, separately per company and per administrator / founder. The latter enters as a guarantor on the company’s loan. Based on the crowdfunding license at the EU level that we hold, we have access to all the companies’ data. For individuals’ data (administrators), we need integration with Lendrise. Using their technology, we can query the data from the Credit Bureau, with the consent of the borrowers, so that we can perform our scoring.” Cristian Pasa explains.
“Currently, Lendrise helps Fagura to measure the creditworthiness of business founders and administrator who need to get the trust of investors for raising money through alternative lending, like crowd-lending. In the next phase digital users of Lendrise will be able to invest wisely on crowd-lending platforms like Fagura or Ronin based on their financial profile.” – said Nic Balaceanu, CEO and founder of Lendrise. “I hope we’ll bring in this game another fintech, Bankata, capable of making investment recommendations. And finally, my digital dream is of users using OpenID technology, like Sunt.io or Itsme.be to access seamlessly and securely different private fintech and financial platforms or public websites.” he added.
Lending to companies through the Fagura platform targets loans of up to 20,000 euros, granted for a maximum period of 4 years. Pasa says that in the Republic of Moldova investors have interest rates between 12% and 20% – in Romania, the interest rates will be lower – and the non-performing loan rate is below 2%.
Why opt for crowd-lending?
„We are an alternative source of funding, not necessarily an aggressive competitor for banks. In general, the bank will not finance you if you are a new business, or if you have no financial history or solid collateral. In addition, granting a loan through the bank takes from weeks to months. On Fagura, the entire process takes place in a maximum of 14 days.” – explained the representative of the crowd-lending platform.
The Romanian Fintech Association (Rofin.Tech) plays an essential role in this partnership between Fagura and Lendrise, which represents a significant leap in the local fintech collaboration.
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Fagura is known for its crowd lending platform that connects SME borrowers with investors. With a vision to transform into a comprehensive digital banking platform, Fagura will offer an array of financial services, currently emphasizing competitive interest rates and higher investor returns. Their innovative approach and expansion into new financial services illustrate their commitment to change for the better the financial sector.
Lendrise Marketplace is the Romanian fintech company that strongly believes in the sovereignty of digital identity, creditworthiness and health so that people can store and use personal information for their benefit and across any political, social, financial or geographical boundaries. And over 1 million existing users believe the same.
As a leading organization in Romania’s fintech sector, RofinTech is dedicated to fostering innovation and collaboration among fintech companies. Its mission is to create a thriving ecosystem that promotes technological advancement in financial services, ensuring that Romania stays at the forefront of fintech development.
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