How Lendfolk makes money

Donations

A small transaction fee of 2.9% plus £0.25 helps cover payment processing and running the platform. By default it comes out of the donation, and supporters can choose to cover it instead so the full amount reaches the campaign.

Donation

£50

Transaction fee

£1.70

Reaching the campaign

£48.30

Some supporters may also choose to make an optional contribution to Lendfolk when donating. This is never required, it starts at £0, and we never select an amount on anyone’s behalf.

Loans

Lendfolk earns money through the difference between the cost paid by the borrower and the return paid to lenders. A borrower’s maximum APR is 8.9% and the standard lender return is 6.5%, a difference of 2.4 percentage points.

That difference is not profit. It pays for:

• payment processing
• running the platform
• identity, affordability and credit assessment
• servicing repayments
• regulatory and compliance costs
• Lendfolk’s own revenue

We do not charge lenders a fee on repayments, and we do not add a platform fee to a borrower after their campaign is funded.

If a lender takes a lower return

That choice is intended to reduce the borrower’s cost rather than simply increase Lendfolk’s margin. Our share stays the same 2.4 percentage points whether a lender takes the standard return, a lower one, or none at all, so the whole of what a lender gives up reaches the person borrowing.

Donations work differently again: they are not repaid at all, so they reduce the amount the borrower owes rather than the rate they pay on it.