How Lendfolk works
Someone asks for what they need. The people who back them choose whether that money is a gift or a loan, and keep that choice to themselves.
Apply
Tell Lendfolk what you need and complete the required assessment.
Share
Your page goes live and people can choose how they want to support you.
Get funded
Support can come from donations and loans.
Repay
You repay the loan portion. Donations are yours to keep.
Give it. Lend it. Or somewhere in between.
Helping someone financially doesn’t have to mean giving money away.
You might choose to donate £20. You might lend £100 and simply get your £100 back. Or you might lend at the available return.
Lendfolk lets you decide privately how you want to help.
Common questions
- Can other people see whether I donated or lent?
- No. A campaign page shows a supporter’s name, if they gave one, and the amount they put in. Whether that money was a donation or a loan, and any rate attached to it, is never published.
- Why would I lend rather than donate?
- Because you may want to help with £100 without being able to give £100 away permanently. Lending gets your money back over the campaign’s term, and you decide whether you want a return on top.
- What does the borrower pay?
- Donations are not repaid at all. The rest is repaid in monthly instalments at a rate that depends on what the people lending chose. The more lending at low or no interest, the lower the borrower’s rate.
- How does Lendfolk make money?
- Creating a page is free and so is being assessed. Donations carry a small transaction fee, and on loans Lendfolk earns the difference between what a borrower pays and what lenders receive. If a lender takes a lower return, that reduces the borrower’s cost rather than increasing Lendfolk’s share.
- What happens if a borrower does not repay?
- You may get back less than you lent, or nothing. Lendfolk checks identity, affordability and creditworthiness before enabling lending, but those checks reduce risk rather than remove it.
Your capital is at risk when you lend. You may get back less than you lend. Lendfolk is a product concept and does not offer real loans, investments or donations.