Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending in Europe: Evaluating the Default Risk of Borrowers in the Context of Gender and Education

In recent years, the importance of social lending activities and their effects on consumers have been highlighted by the widespread use of peer-to peer lending platforms and the global race in fintech. Our study focuses on factors that affect the likelihood that European borrowers on peer-to-peer lending platforms, which are currently based in Estonia, Finland, and Spain, will default on their loans. Starting with the publicly accessible Bondora database, we examine the different economic and social characteristics of the borrowers to analyze the factors that contributed to loan default between 2013 and 2021. We use a Logit model to calculate the ex-post probability of default for factors derived from Principal Component Analysis as well as the original variables supplied by the database. The results show how crucially important education is for borrowers in lowering the risk of default, along with loan characteristics like high debt levels, long loan terms, and high interest rates. In addition, gender plays an important role in determining loan default, with a particular focus on women's conditions within the family. Regarding financial inclusion and its social implications, our findings suggest different ways to improve financial literacy and promote peer-to-peer lending. Future research could develop on the findings by applying them to other lending platforms and countries.