Marketplace Lending Report Switzerland 2025

FH Zentralschweiz Marketplace Lending Report Switzerland 2025 Nadine Berchtold Simon Amrein Andreas Dietrich Authors Nadine Berchtold Prof Dr Simon Amrein Prof Dr Andreas Dietrich Lucerne School of Business Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ Suurstoffi 1 CH -6343 Rotkreuz +41 41 757 67 67 ISBN 978 -3-907379-55-4 hslu.ch/business © 06.2025, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne School of Business Marketplace Lending Report 2025 ii The Study The Marketplace Lending Report is the fifth comprehensive analysis of debt capital financing via the Internet for companies, public corporations, and private individuals in Switzerland. The report examines online platforms that directly connect lenders and borrowers, opening up investment opportunities once limited to financial institutions. This study is a joint publication by the Lucerne School of Business and the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association (SMLA). Its primary goals are to highlight the economic relevance of the Swiss online financing market and to increase market transparency. Numerous Swiss marketplace lending platforms have generously provided valuable data for this publication for research purposes. The Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ of the Lucerne School of Business has been analysing the online debt capital market segment since 2012, focusing on the crowdlending segment of marketplace lending. In this segment, individuals or professional investors fund other individuals or businesses. A key feature of this form of financing is that corresponding loans are published on platforms accessible to both, private and professional investors. The year 2024 was a successful year for marketplace lending. All segments have seen an increase in volume, bringing the total market volume for 2024 to CHF 21.4bn. However, while marketplace lending in Switzerland experienced exponential growth for many years, the pace has slowed in recent years as the asset class matures. The evolution of the market has differed by segment, reflecting varying underlying trends. We remain optimistic about the future of the asset class and expect continued growth in the overall market. In this report, we explain the reasons behind our outlook and discuss notable development and trends across different segments Authors: Nadine Berchtold, Simon Amrein, Andreas Dietrich Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Lucerne School of Business Published by the Lucerne School of Business and the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association SMLA. www.hslu.ch/ifz www.lendingassociation.ch Marketplace Lending Report 2025 iii Contents 1 Objective and Structure of the Report ____________________________________ 1 2 An Introduction to Marketplace Lending __________________________________ 2 2.1 Financial Intermediation Through Marketplace Lending ________________________________ 2 2.2 A Conceptual View on Business Models ______________________________________________ 4 3 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland ______________________________________ 5 3.1 Deep Dive – Consumer, SME and Real Estate Crowdlending Loans ________________________ 6 3.2 Mortgage Loans on Brokerage Platforms ____________________________________________ 13 3.3 Loans and Bonds for (Near-)Public Entities, Mid-Sized and Large Corporations ______________ 15 3.4 Money Market Transactions ______________________________________________________ 17 3.5 Market Volumes – An Overview ___________________________________________________ 18 4 Conclusion and Outlook _____________________________________________ 20 Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Objective and Structure of the Reportder Studie 1 1 Objective and Structure of the Report This study aims to illustrate and discuss the current state and emerging trends in the Swiss marketplace lending landscape, explicitly focusing on domestically based platforms. By publishing market statistics, we aim to increase transparency in the Swiss online finance marketplace and providea comprehensive overview of key trends. Additionally, this study offers an in-depth portrayal of the main funding alternative and principal market participants. The Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ of the Lucerne School of Business collected data from most of the marketplace lending platforms operating in Switzerland in 2024. Data from certain subsegments are incorporated from the annual Crowdfunding Monitor (Dietrich & Amrein).1 The Swiss Marketplace Lending Association (SMLA) also contributed additional data from its members, including risk and return figures. The report is structured as follows: After the introduction in Section 2, Section 3 examines and discusses the development of the Swiss online lending market, including market volumes and market participants. Section 4 concludes with an outlook on the future of the Swiss marketplace lending market. __________ 1 Dietrich, A. & Amrein, S. (2025). Crowdfunding Monitor Schweiz 2025. Rotkreuz: Verlag IFZ. Marketplace Lending Report 2025 An Introduction to Marketplace Lending 2 2 An Introduction to Marketplace Lending The following section provides an introduction to marketplace lending. The chapter additionally offers a conceptual overview of business models in marketplace lending, which will be used as a framework for the market analysis in Section 3. 2.1 Financial Intermediation Through Marketplace Lending Marketplace lending describes the process of arranging debt capital between lenders and borrowers online. The intermediation occurs via credit marketplaces, referred to as platforms here. Borrowers can be private individuals, companies or public corporations. Lenders may be private individuals or professional and institutional investors such as insurers, funds, pension funds, banks, family offices, foundations, companies or other legal entities. The borrowed capital can be granted by either only one or several entities. To meet a marketplace's criteria for this study, a loan on the platform must be accessible to more than one lender. For example, online platforms run by individual banks to distribute loans are excluded. Figure 1 visualises a simplified loan transaction process on a marketplace lending platform. Potential borrowers submit a loan application to a platform and must disclose various data. Investors can select and invest in loans on the platform. Once one or several investors have been found to finance the loan, a loan agreement is often concluded directly between the lender(s) and the borrower. Other business models also exist, where loan agreements are made through the platform (with the platform as the legal counterparty). The investors transfer the loan amount to the borrower. Subsequently, the borrower typically has to repay the loan amount and interest to the lenders over a predetermined period. Interest payments usually depend (among other factors) on the loan terms, the general interest rate level, and the borrower's default risk. The platform receives fees from borrowers and/or lenders for its brokerage services. The fees depend on the business model and the services provided by the platform. Figure 1: Capital Flows and Services of a Marketplace Lending Platform (illustrative) Borrower Lender(s) MARKETPLACE LENDING PLATFORM Brokerage, Risk Analysis, Other Services (depending on business model) Loan Application Platform Fees Loan Selection Platform Fees Marketplace Lending Report 2025 An Introduction to Marketplace Lending 3 Terminologies: P2P Lending, Crowdlending, Marketplace Lending and Online Alternative Finance The existing literature and market participants use various terminologies for online financing of loans to consumers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs2) and other entities. "Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending" emerged as the first term to describe online intermediation of loans. With the growing popularity of crowdfunding, however, the term "crowdlending" has also become increasingly common. Crowdfunding was derived from a concept described as "crowdsourcing" by journalist Jeff Howe in Wired magazine in 2006.3 Both P2P lending and crowdlending were often perceived as enabling the financing of a loan by one or more private individuals ("peers"). However, as lenders became more diverse and institutional investors gradually started to engage in online loan platforms, the basic concept of loan financing from peers was gradually diluted. The term "marketplace lending" allows a broader definition of loan financing through online platforms. Bearing in mind the involvement of various investors, the idea of marketplace lending as a marketplace for credit is more accurate in describing the business model of the respective platforms. "Online Alternative Finance" is another term often used to describe business models relating to online capitalraising activities.4 Similarly to crowdfunding, Online Alternative Finance has a broader scope, including debtbased, equity-based and non-investment-based financing activities (reward-based and donation-based crowdfunding). The idea of "alternative" signals that business models in this area typically operate outside of the traditional banking and capital markets. This study uses the term "marketplace lending". It is broad enough to cover a variety of platforms with various borrowers and lenders while focusing solely on debt capital intermediation through online platforms. The first marketplace lending (at the time P2P) platform was Zopa, launched in the United Kingdom in 2005. The platform focused on servicing private individuals with consumer/personal loans. In 2006, the first platform in the United States, Prosper, was established. As Zopa, Prosper started by offering personal loans. The first Chinese marketplace lending platform, Paipaidai – also focusing on consumer finance – was established in 2007. In Switzerland, the first lending platform, Cashare, was launched in 2008. Since then, there has been a rapid increase in these platforms globally and locally, already followed by market consolidation. By the end of 2023, there were 31 marketplace lending platforms in Switzerland. Banking vs. Marketplace Lending Financial intermediation through marketplace lending platforms differs fundamentally from the practices of banks. While banks lend via their balance sheet, the platforms typically act as intermediaries without using their own balance sheets. Banks traditionally perform functions such as lot size, maturity and risk transformation in financial intermediation. For instance, banks consolidate savings from several lenders into one large loan or use short-term funds for long-term loans. Consequently, lenders themselves bear the risk of credit default and must manage portfolio diversification. In return, lenders gain direct access to an additional asset class previously exclusive to banks. Moreover, the income of marketplace lending platforms is not based on interest income – as it is the case for banks – but on fees and commissions. Therefore, this report explicitly excludes loans recorded on the intermediary's balance sheet from the definition of marketplace lending. Banks offering loans online through their website or online banking are excluded from our analyses. Additionally, the study does not cover private debt investments with no involvement from online platforms. __________ 2 SME are defined as companies with less than 250 employees. 3 Howe, J. (2006). The Rise of Crowdsourcing. Wired magazine. Issue 14.06. 4 For a more detailed discussion of the term, see: Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (2020). The Global Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report, p. 30. Marketplace Lending Report 2025 An Introduction to Marketplace Lending 4 2.2 A Conceptual View on Business Models Platform business models in the marketplace lending market are heterogeneous and can be categorised according to several characteristics. Figure 2 divides the two relevant dimensions, borrower and lender type, into three sub-categories. Lenders can be i) private individuals, ii) professional or institutional investors (e.g. family offices, funds) or iii) banks. Borrowers may be i) private individuals, ii) SMEs, large corporates, public corporations and entities (e.g. municipalities, cities, cantons, public or near-public entities such as hospitals) or iii) banks. A clear distinction of business models along the nine segments is not possible. For instance, the investor base of some platforms is diverse and consists of institutional and private lenders. The same applies to the borrower side, where a platform might facilitate loans to various entities. Nevertheless, the segments shown in Figure 2 serve as a conceptual guide to characterise business models among marketplace lenders in Switzerland. In addition to the lender and borrower dimension, various other characteristics can also be considered. These are, for example, loan duration and its collateral or the platform's service offering. In Switzerland, we currently identify eight different loan types brokered on platforms: i) consumer loans, ii) real estate loans, iii) business loans (for SMEs), iv) mortgage loans (brokerage), v) OERK & institutional loans, vi) loans to mid-sized and large corporations, vii) public bonds, and viii) money market loans. The first three subsegments (consumer, real estate, and business loans) are often referred to as crowdlending because investments are open to both private and professional investors. Figure 2: Conceptual Framework for Business Models in Marketplace Lending (bubble sizes do not indicate market volumes) Mortgage Loans (Brokerage) Consumer Loans OERK & Institutional Loans BusinessLoans (SME) and Invoice Financing Real Estate Loans Lender Borrower Private Professional / institutional Banks Private SME –corporates –public corporations and entities Banks Loans to Mid-Sized and Large Corporations Public Bonds Money Market Loans Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 5 3 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland Private individuals, SMEs, corporations as well as public and near-public entities can obtain debt capital from different sources. A potential source of credit is marketplace lending. Before exploring the market participants, business models and market volumes in Swiss marketplace lending, we briefly outline the role of the banks, which remain the dominant players in Switzerland's most relevant players in the conventional financing market. As of December 2024, Swiss banks' total domestic outstanding loan volume was CHF 1,391.7bn. Figure 3 shows the distribution of different loan types as a share of the total loan volume recorded on banks’ balance sheets. Mortgages account for a substantial amount of the total loan volume (86.6%). The borrowers are private individuals, corporations and the public sector. Private individuals accounted for CHF 874.0bn. CHF 26.8bn were loaned to the public sector. Corporates borrowers obtained CHF 449.4bn in loans from banks. 89.7% of these corporate loans were granted to SMEs. The largest part of SME loans is mortgage-backed, with an 79.1% share. Over the last few years, the composition of bank's loan portfolio has remained relatively stable, showing no significant structural changes.5 Figure 3: Swiss Banks' Loan Portfolio by Loan Type and Client Segment as of December 20245,6 The figures above refer to outstanding domestic loan volumes. The annual volume of new loans facilitated by Swiss banks is only public for domestic mortgages. In 2023, CHF 78bn of mortgage loans were issued to its private and corporate clients.6 The distinction between new loans and credit extensions is essential, as the statistics in the following sections will refer primarily to new loans (flow vs. stock figures). __________ 5 SNB (2025). Datenportal der Schweizerischen Nationalbank. Online (16.04.2025): https://data.snb.ch/ 6 SNB (2025). Datenportal der Schweizerischen Nationalbank. Online (16.04.2025): https://data.snb.ch/ 63% 24% 3% 8% 2% Private individuals mortgages Corporate mortgages Public mortgages Private individuals other loans Corporate other loans Public other loans Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 12 SME loans, as of 31.12.2024 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 Default rate as a percentage of loans issued in the respective year of origination 0.35% 2.50% 2.90% 11.85% 4.21% Return (XIRR) per year of origination 5.06% 4.35% 3.25% -6.74% 2.85% Loan amount outstanding (in TCHF) 53,363 27,609 10,938 4,411 1,545 Volume in the respective year (in TCHF)* 70,280 66,766 64,809 43,413 54,886 Share of loans still outstanding 75.9% 41.4% 16.9% 10.2% 2.8% Consumer loans, as of 31.12.2024 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 Default rate as a percentage of loans issued in the respective year of origination 5.6% 3.5% 4.5% 4.3% 4.1% Return (XIRR) per year of origination 5.6% 3.7% 4.2% 3.3% 3.8% Loan amount outstanding (in TCHF) 44,625 25,787 22,924 14,369 3,032 Volume in the respective year (in TCHF)* 45,432 42,372 56,988 52,130 39,945 Share of loans still outstanding 98.2% 60.9% 40.2% 27.6% 7.6% Table 4: Risk/Return Metrics of SME and Consumer Loans in Switzerland as of 31st December 2024 Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 13 3.2 Mortgage Loans on Brokerage Platforms The mortgage market is the most relevant market for debt financing in Switzerland. In 2023, the total outstanding domestic mortgage volume reached an estimated CHF 1,243bn, setting again a new record level in Switzerland. 94.9% of this volume is financed by banks (CHF 1,179bn), with the remainder provided by pension funds and insurance companies.18 Private individuals borrow three-quarters of the mortgage volume, while companies and other entities borrow the other quarter. In recent years, some traditional banks have launched online mortgage offerings and have also further invested in mortgage services on online platforms for private borrowers. At the same time, existing platforms have continued to develop their business models. However, some market participants have exited the highly competitive market. Today, the various platforms and business models in the online mortgage sector differ significantly.19 Two forms of online mortgages must be distinguished when analysing the market. Online mortgages, in the narrow sense of the term, are processed entirely digitally. In a broader sense, online mortgages refer to mortgages for which application processes are partially or entirely online. The signing, however, is not digital. This study considers both types of B2C mortgages. B2B platforms for mortgages have become more popular. With regard to lender structure, some platforms rely on a single lender, while others involve multiple lenders. The former are typically operated by or in cooperation with a bank and are excluded from this study. In contrast, platforms with multiple lenders constitute a true marketplace and are thus in the scope of this analysis. Market Participants The study considers ten market players that qualify as marketplace lending platforms for mortgages. In contrast to real estate crowdlending platforms, these platforms have an exclusively professional investor base, such as banks, insurance companies and pension funds. Two platforms are led by banks. UBS launched its Atrium platform in 2017 and integrated it in 2021 into the key4 platform, now called UBS key4 mortgages. On UBS key4 mortgages, UBS offers its own mortgages and mortgages from third parties. The BrokerMarket business model from Thurgauer Kantonalbank operates as an intermediary platform connecting mortgage borrowers with lenders through mortgage brokers (B2B2C model). Lenders can access a network of mortgage brokers via BrokerMarket, which manages the transactions online. Lenders' participation on the platform is free, with a closing commission payable only upon successful completion. In April 2024, Thurgauer Kantonalbank (TKB) acquired Valuu's brand rights from Credit Exchange AG and combined the existing platform brokermarket.ch with Valuu20. Credit Exchange, a cooperative venture between Mobiliar, Vaudoise, PostFinance, Swisscom, Bank Avera and Glarner Kantonalbank, started its B2B activity in 2018 by offering banks, insurances and pension funds the possibility to originate, issue, buy and sell mortgages. Financial institutions can therefore either offload their balance sheets or expand, diversify and optimize their mortgage books. __________ 18 Sources: SNB (2023). Datenportal SNB. Online (11.09.2024): https://data.snb.ch/de/topics/banken#!/cube/bakredsekbm. Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA (2023). Bericht über den Versicherungsmarkt 2023. Bundesamt für Statistik BFS (2023). Pensionskassenstatistik 2022. Online (11.09.2024): https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/soziale-sicherheit/erhebungen/pks.html. For an in-depth discussion of the Swiss mortgage market, see: Lengwiler, C. & Amrein, S. (2020). Markt für Immobilienfinanzierungen in der Schweiz. In: IFZ Retail Banking Studie 2020. Rotkreuz: Verlag IFZ. 19 For more information on market volumes of online mortgages until 2021, see: Dietrich, A. & Zollinger, M. (2022 Der OnlineHypothekarmarkt Schweiz wächst weiter – aber langsamer. Online (11.09.2023): https://hub.hslu.ch/retailbanking/der-onlinehypothekarmarkt-schweiz-waechst-weiter-aber-langsamer/ The 2022 volume figures are based on estimates and informal discussions with market participants. 20 Thurgauer Kantonalbank (2023). TKB stärkt Hypothekenplattform brokermarket.ch. Online (10.05.2023): https://www.tkb.ch/.dam/e6a28e3f-5319-402c-8167-afde89a1bf6a/Medienmitteilung-Valuu_Credex.pdf?638488872774484120 Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 14 MoneyPark, launched in 2012, is currently Switzerland's most established classical mortgage brokerage firm. In September 2023, MoneyPark announced that its sales network would be integrated into the network of the Swiss insurance company Helvetia.21 Furthermore, several other mortgage brokerage firms exist, such as Resolve, topHypo, feyn, SwissFEX, Hypohaus, and Hypo Advisors. One of the most relevant changes in the market structure in recent years was the discontinuation of the brand Valuu. This also marked the withdrawal of PostFinance as a major player from the online mortgage market. Market Volumes Despite substantial volumes, the market for mortgages issued through platforms is still a niche market. As shown in Figure 7, the volume of mortgages brokered reached approximately CHF 7.0bn in 2024 (2023: CHF 5.0bn), reaching the highest volume in history. Based on the assumption by the authors that new and extended mortgages total about CHF 160-180bn, the market share of mortgages brokered is about 4%. Figure 7: Volume of Mortgage Brokers in Switzerland, 2017-2024 (* volume estimate by authors) __________ 21 Helvetia (2023). MoneyPark und Helvetia bündeln Vertriebskraft und bauen ihre führende Stellung aus. Online (11.09.2023): https://mpcdn.ch/media/pdf/press_releases/20230905_MM_MoneyPark_DE.pdf 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023* 2024* Volume in CHFbn Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 15 3.3 Loans and Bonds for (Near-)Public Entities, Mid-Sized and Large Corporations This section includes two types of loans or private placements. Firstly, the online market for loans to public or near-public entities. Loans to public entities usually consist of uncollateralised loans to municipalities, cities, cantons or corporations under public law. In German, this segment is referred to as OERK loans (OERK: öffentlich-rechtliche Körperschaften). A second subsegment is loans to mid-sized and large corporations. Investors in both subsegments are banks and institutional and professional investors (asset managers, family offices and pension funds). Some loans on these platforms are very short-term and are, therefore, similar to those in the money market. However, we will still categorise these loans as loans and bonds for public entities. In the realm of the money market, there are dedicated platforms that operate exclusively in this segment. We will delve deeper into these in chapter 1.6. Market Participants Two market participants are currently active in this segment in Switzerland. Loanboox has been operational since 2016 and has grown rapidly in the loan market for public entities. Since then, the company has extended its product offering, including loans to corporates and, since 2020, the financing of housing cooperatives, real estate funds and companies. Since its founding, Loanboox has transacted over CHF 31bn across all business segments.22 The platform charges a fee of one to two basis points per year, depending on country and segment. The company is active in twelve European countries. Cosmofunding is a platform owned by Bank Vontobel, which launched this offering in 2018. The company focuses on public and corporate borrowers. Bank Vontobel generally assumes the role of a lead manager on behalf of investors, acts as the paying agent for private placements and bond issuances, and orchestrates the platform and various stakeholders. The issuer places their project on the platform, where it is presented to investors through an auction format for a specified period and, upon successful completion, is securitised with just a few clicks ("Private Placement"). Typically, it takes two to five days from the auction's conclusion to the disbursement. Customers can define all financing parameters, including the disbursement, to tailor their financing according to their needs. Securitisation allows for potential further trading on the secondary market, although this is currently less common. To ensure a level of market liquidity, Bank Vontobel provides market-making functions. Moreover, Cosmofunding collaborated with the Swiss rating agency Fedafin for borrower ratings and partnered with Innergia Group in 2021 to advance infrastructure and energy transition financing via public-private partnerships.23 With a traded volume of CHF 11.9bn, cosmofunding achieved a year-on-year growth of 9.2% (2023: CHF 10.9bn). Since its launch in October 2018, cosmofunding has issued approximately CHF 46bn in private placements, loans and bonds.24 The platform recently announced plans to expand internationally.25 Market Volumes Figure 8 shows the market volumes issued in Switzerland from 2017 to 2024. The volumes grew from CHF 2.0bn in 2017 to approximately 13.0bn in 2024. The 2024 volume consists of loans issued on Loanboox and Cosmofunding. The data for 2021 to 2024 is based on estimates, as the share of Switzerland-related transactions is not publicly available for all platforms. __________ 22 Loanboox (2024). Loanboox 2023 with strong revenue growth and high traction in real estate financing. Online (06.07.2024): https://loanboox.com/ch/en/blog/loanboox-2023-with-strong-revenue-growth-and-high-traction-in-real-estate-financing/ 23 Bank Vontobel (2022). Annual Report 2021, p. 19. 24 Bank Vontobel (2024). Annual Report 2023, p. 24. 25 Finews (2025). Cosmofunding hebt ab – Vontobels Plattform nimmt Kurs auf Europa. Online (30.6.2025): https://www.finews.ch/news/banken/68142-cosmosfunding-vontobel-swiss-private-banking-expansion-stefan-pomberger-swissfinance-place Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 16 Figure 8: Loan Volume to Public Entities and Mid-Sized and Large Corporations, 2017-2024 (* estimates by authors)26 __________ 26 Data: Estimates based on publicly available figures. For 2023 figures, see: Loanboox (2024). Loanboox 2023 with strong revenue growth and high traction in real estate financing. Online (06.07.2024): https://loanboox.com/ch/en/blog/loanboox-2023-with-strongrevenue-growth-and-high-traction-in-real-estate-financing/; Bank Vontobel (2025). Annual Report 2024. We have adjusted to total volume of 2022 retrospectively due to new information provided by a platform. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021* 2022* 2023* 2024* Volume in CHFbn Loans / Private Placement Listed Bonds Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 17 3.4 Money Market Transactions The traditional classification of money market instruments is their maturity of less than one year. Within this duration, there are many subsegments and submarkets. Furthermore, money market transactions are unsecured and typically institutional-size trades that allow banks, corporates and other institutional counterparties, including public authorities, to manage their liquidity. Compared to traditional money market trading, which is often done via phone or established financial information systems, money market platforms have several advantages. Price discovery and trading can be made more efficiently through platforms, serving the needs of "best execution". Furthermore, such marketplaces offer more potential counterparties, which allows for increased price transparency and better diversification of counterparty risk. In Switzerland, only one money market platform is active. Instimatch Global is a Swiss-based FinTech founded in 2017. It offers a platform for the digital trading of cash products, which includes digital price discovery, negotiation, counterparty diversification and automated execution of money market products across various sectors and countries. Typical counterparties on Instimatch's platform are national and international Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks, mid-sized and large multinational corporates and public and nearpublic entities (transportation, energy, healthcare, etc.). According to Instimatch, the platform has more than 300 customers globally. Instimatch arranged a total of USD 661bn in unsecured cash deposits in 2024 (2023: USD 390bn; global transaction volume).27 __________ 27 Instimatch.ch – About us, Our Story (www.instimatch.ch/about-us#our-story) Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 18 3.5 Market Volumes – An Overview The sections above have explored various segments in Switzerland's online debt capital market. Table 5 shows the volumes of the different segments from 2017 to 2024 (annual volumes of new loans). The total volume of new debt capital issued on online platforms in 2024 reached approximately CHF 21.4bn. Market volumes in 2024 are roughly four times higher than in 2017, representing an annual average growth rate of about 22%. The total money market volume is not included in Table 5, as the maturities of such transactions are substantially shorter than in any other loan segment, making comparisons difficult. Moreover, the publicly available volumes include transactions worldwide, whereas the market figures of all other online debt segments cover Switzerland only. The crowdlending segment has reached a volume of CHF 406.1m in new loans in 2024 (2023: CHF 398.1m). The market volumes increased slightly by 2.0% as compared to 2023. The market segment of mortgage loans brokered on platforms and financed by institutional and professional investors increased significantly by about 40%. For 2024, we estimate a new loan volume of CHF 7.0bn, compared to CHF 5.0bn in 2023. The segment of loans and bonds for mid-sized and large corporations as well as public and near-public entities reached a volume of CHF 14.0bn in 2024 (+6.2%). When looking at the market figures of the different marketplace lending segments, one must remember that the average duration of debt instruments within these segments varies. For example, many consumer and SME loans in the crowdlending segment have a duration ranging from two to four years. The average duration of a mortgage loan in Switzerland is about four to five years. In contrast to these segments, the online loans and bonds segment for mid-sized corporations, large corporations, and public entities have maturities ranging anywhere between one month and ten years. Debt instruments with short maturities are often renewed, leading to higher turnovers and driving the annual volume of new transactions. The volume in the money market segment, as outlined above, has the lowest duration. Typically, money market instruments are defined as instruments with a maturity below one year. However, many transactions probably have maturities between one or several days to a few months. In CHF million 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Crowdlending Loans 186.7 261.9 418.4 448.0 607.0 497.5 398.1 406.1 Consumer Loans 52.0 57.0 67.7 55.4 78.7 72.9 61.4 73.1 SME Loans 111.6 134.4 159.7 95.9 110.4 141.9 132.8 133.6 Real Estate Loans 23.1 70.5 191.0 296.7 418.0 282.7 203.9 199.4 Brokered Mortgage Loans 3,250.0 3,300.0 4,179.0 5,541.0 5,913.0 *6,217.3 *5,000.0 *7,000.0 Loans for Mid-Sized Corporations, Large Corporations and Public Entities *2,000.0 *4,100.0 6,200.0 9,405.0 *12,040.0 *14,148.0 *13,205.0 *14,028.0 Loans *2,000.0 *4,100.0 6,200.0 9,000.0 *11,990.0 *14,148.0 *13,205.0 *13,400.0 Listed Bonds 0.0 0.0 0.0 405.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 800.0 Total Volume Swiss Marketplace Lending 5,436.7 7,661.9 10,797.4 15,389.0 18,560.0 20,862.8 18,603.1 21,434.1 Table 5: Total Volume Swiss Marketplace Lending, 2017-2024 (in CHF million; *estimates) Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Marketplace Lending in Switzerland 19 Figure 9 illustrates the importance of the online lending segments. The y-axis shows the average growth in volume over the past six years, providing insights into the growth dynamics of the subsegments. The x-axis indicates the estimated market share of the different subsegments within the respective markets in 2024.28 The market shares below are based on estimates,discussions with market participants, and available public data. We estimate that online loans for (near-)public entities have reached the highest relevance measured by market share. The evolution is driven by financing municipalities, cities, cantons and near-public entities (e.g. hospitals). A study by Lengwiler and Frey (2020) on municipalities has shown that about 15% of the surveyed municipalities used platforms for financing purposes in 2019.29 Marketplace lending platforms active in the respective segment estimate their market share for 2024 to be substantially higher than back in 2019. Mortgage loans from brokers have reached annual growth rates of about 13.4% (2018-2024). The market share has reached around 4%. The crowdlending market has shown a slightly lower growth rates (20182024: 7.6% p.a.) but still has a low significance compared to the total underlying market (consumer and SME lending). Figure 9: Market Growth vs. Relevance (Indicative, Estimated Values, Issued Annual Volumes) in Different Market Segments __________ 28 The market share is defined as the total volume issued on marketplace lending platforms in 2023 as a percentage of the total loan volume issued by all financial service providers in Switzerland in 2023 (in the respective loan segment). 29 Lengwiler, C. & Frey, P. (2020). Finanzierung von mittelgrossen Gemeinden 2019. Erhebung bei 238 Gemeinden mit 4’000 bis 30’000 Einwohnern in der Deutschund Westschweiz per 31.12.2019. Rotkreuz: Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug IFZ. -10% 10% 30% 50% 70% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% Growth Rates (annualized, 2018-2024) Relevance (Market Share) Crowdlending Loans Mortgage Loans Online Brokerage Online Loans for Public Entities Online Loans for Mid-Sized & Large Corporations CHF 12bn CHF 1bn Transaction Volume Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Conclusion and Outlook 20 4 Conclusion and Outlook Brokered Mortgage Loans: Highest Volume in history In 2024, the Swiss mortgage brokerage segment achieved a record volume of approximately CHF 7bn. Most platforms significantly increased their annual volumes, despite some internal reorganisation such as at MoneyPark, stemming from the Helvetia integration. Overall, the market grew by 40%. However, one of the sector’s key challenges remains the limited public familiarity with the mortgage brokerage model. Customer behavior continues to evolve slowly in this regard. However, according to a survey by the IFZ, over one third of mortgage borrowers are generally open to arranging their mortgage through an intermediary in the future. This indicates further potential for future growth in this segment.30 Loan volumes to public and near-public entities and medium-sized and large companies will grow After a slight volume decline in 2023, the 2024 transaction volume in this category is back at the level of 2022. While financing for municipalities or cantons through platforms is becoming increasingly established, many public entities have already used this form of financing. This market segment remains to be the most mature segment within marketplace lending in terms of relevance for the overall financial market. We are back in a low interest rate environment. Consequently, we expect the market in 2025 to grow stronger compared to the previous two years. Corporate loans and private placements are still in high demand, and the online financing option is increasingly known among potential borrowers. We thus expect an increasing market share in 2025. Positive Outlook for Crowdlending We expect growing volumes in the crowdlending segment. The past years have been a stress test for the market. The COVID-19 pandemic was followed by economic uncertainty, inflation and a rapid rise in the interest rate environment, which reversed again from May 2024. The crowdlending sectors reports growing volumes in the context of the return to a low interest rate environment. Credit Market Tensions in Switzerland In recent months, the Swiss credit market has faced notable changes. Loan agreements with the former Credit Suisse expire and many borrowers may currently reconsider their refinancing options. Moreover, new Basel III regulations challenge the capital allocation to loans of some banks, which might impact the credit pricing. In addition to the new final Basel III requirements, tighter conditions on the liability side are expected to lead to a slowdown in lending in certain segments – particularly for loans with high capital requirements. In light of these banking constraints, marketplace lending platforms that offer competitive pricing and greater flexibility may benefit from new opportunities. Interest Rate Environment and Market Volatility Decreasing interest rates typically support growth in marketplace lending. On the platforms investors find midto long-term loans with fixed interest rates, providing predictable returns in a low-rate environment. If interest rates remain low throughout the year, we expect accelerated growth across all segments of marketplace lending, driven by investors’ search for stable yields. However, this is likely to occur only if the overall economic situation remains positive and geopolitical uncertainties do not intensify further. Institutional investors are critical for the long-term success of the market Institutional investors remain key to future market growth, as they can allocate more substantial investments at once than private investors. Except for the crowdlending segment, marketplace lending can be accessed by institutional investors only. In order to attract further institutional investors, the market must grow further in volume and number of transactions to reach a critical size. Moreover, market participants and the SMLA will have to further promote awareness and transparency of the market. __________ 30 Dietrich, A., Rey, R. & Benz, M (2024). Zwischen Traum und Realität: Bedürfnisse, Hürden und Preissensitivität im Wohneigentumsmarkt. In: IFZ Retail Banking Studie 2024. Rotkreuz: Verlag IFZ. Marketplace Lending Report 2025 Authors 21 5 Authors Nadine Berchtold Nadine Berchtold (1994) is a senior research associate and has been working at the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ since 2021. She has experience at Swiss retail banks and a microfinance firm in Kenya in the credit environment. Before joining the IFZ, she worked as a business consultant. She received her master's degree in Banking and Finance from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the field of sustainable financing at the University of Neuchâtel. She is also the General Secretary of the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association SMLA. Prof Dr Simon Amrein Simon Amrein (1985) is head of the MSc in Banking and Finance programme at the Lucerne School of Business. He has been at the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ since 2009. He studied banking and finance at the Lucerne School of Business, economic history at the London School of Economics and Political Science and holds a doctorate in economic history from the European University Institute in Florence. He is a board member of the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association SMLA. Prof Dr Andreas Dietrich Andreas Dietrich (1976) heads the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ and is head of the CAS Digital Banking programme. He studied at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), where he also obtained his doctorate. He worked as a research associate at the HSG and completed a research year at DePaul University in Chicago. He has been at the IFZ since 2008. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Lucerne Cantonal Bank since 2015 and member of the bank council of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) since 2024. He used to be the president of the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association SMLA until 2023.