The pandemic caused positive shifts in the P2P market

The height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a negative impact on all financial sectors, brought the P2P industry back two years. The multi-year market growth of the European P2P industry came to naught in just two months - in March and April 2020.

However, many Р2Р players survived the crisis, fulfilling their obligations to investors. After a year and a half of steady growth in investor confidence, the pre-pandemic indicator was overcome. Some platforms managed to recover even faster, returning to their pre-pandemic volumes by the end of 2020. In December 2021, the market volume increased by 13 p.p. compared to January 2020. 

The positive change in the market also manifested itself in the form of numerous structural shifts. 

The investment geographic landscape has flattered. According to surveys by Robo.cash, in four years, the share of German investors dominating the P2P market has halved. The countries of Southern and Eastern Europe became more involved in the industry.

Crisis events have increased the level of financial literacy of investors. Today, only a third of respondents do not use a financial plan, and of these, 8% want to change their approach in the future. 

The market has acquired many new features at the product level as well, such as the mass distribution of notes.

“The “covid” crisis gave the P2P market a lot of positive incentives for further development”. - Robocash platform analysts comment - “With the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the industry was shaken again, but the experience of going through difficult periods allowed it to stabilize. Although it is too early to estimate the forecast of the market”.