Crowdlending as passive income: how the cash arrives, what platforms report and what stays manual

Updated: 2 October 2026

Crowdlending pays on each product's own calendar: daily on Debitum Flow, monthly on Maclear and amortising loans, at closing on PeerBerry short-term loans. This guide sets out those calendars and the interest platforms reported paying in August 2026. Next, it covers the tasks that stay manual, the exits and the tax route in six countries.

Payment calendars by product

PeerBerry calculates loan interest on a 360-day year. Maclear's interest starts accruing when a funded loan is transferred to the borrower. Its FAQ illustrates the monthly figure as €1,000 × 15% / 12 = €12.50, a hypothetical on invested funds. The dashboard return PeerBerry shows, its net annualised return, includes interest that is counted and still unpaid (PeerBerry). In short, accrued interest, credited interest and money in a bank account are three separate states.

Interest platforms reported paid, next to portfolio size

The figures below are aggregate platform flows and stocks, before any investor's taxes. Each platform words its income figure differently ("paid", "earned", "returns"). None of the reports below states an average daily balance, so the table shows the scale of the flows and supports no yield.

Estateguru splits its payments. In August 2026 it paid investors €6.82 million in total. Of that, €4.34 million was scheduled principal, €1.92 million came from recovered loans and €0.56 million was earnings (Estateguru, 16 September 2026). In July the €8.51 million comprised €6.20 million of principal, €1.37 million of recoveries and €0.94 million of returns (Estateguru). Earnings were therefore about 8% of the cash paid in August and 11% in July, and the remainder was money returned to investors.

What Mintos reported from 2015 to 2024, including a negative year

Mintos publishes an annual net return series that deducts estimated losses from gross interest. Mintos states that the figures use its latest recovery estimates and are updated quarterly (Mintos, read 1 October 2026).

Net returns for 2015 to 2018 were 12.0%, 12.6%, 11.6% and 12.1%. Mintos credits the 2020 result to covid-19 and the 2022 result to the war in Ukraine. In 2022 positive gross interest of 7.1% sat beside a negative net result, so interest paid and net income came apart for that year. The table on the same page ends with 2024. A comparison table elsewhere on that page shows 10.8% for 2023 and 10.7% for 2024. Applied to €100,000, a net −1.2% is a loss of €1,200; the series measures the platform, and an individual account differs.

Academic work starts from loan payments data, with no advertised rate involved. Lyócsa and co-authors studied 10,002 Bondora loans from the 2009-2016 window. They found a mean modified return of 27.01% on good loans in the 2,000-loan test set and −46.55% on defaulted loans. Their annualised measure assumes a reinvestment rate (Springer, Financial Innovation 8, article 32, April 2022). However, the sample predates Go & Grow. Funding Circle reported an average annualised retail return of 5% after fees and bad debt since 2010. Funding Circle made the report when it announced the closure of its retail platform on 26 April 2022 (Funding Circle).

Automated and manual tasks on crowdlending platforms

Automation handles allocation and reinvestment. Mintos Core Loans reinvests returns and lets the investor start or stop the portfolio. Custom Loans runs investor rules with more than 20 filters (Mintos). PeerBerry's Auto Invest applies country, originator, interest rate and remaining-term filters. Auto Invest keeps a cash reserve if the investor sets one and cannot invest over the limits set (PeerBerry). Maclear's terms let investors select criteria for automatic project investment. They require accrued Borrower payments to be withdrawn within 60 days of receipt or reinvested within 30 days of receipt. So the investor chooses between the two inside those windows (Maclear terms). Estateguru offers Auto Invest on desired criteria (Estateguru), and Go & Grow states that diversification happens automatically (Go & Grow).

Some tasks stay with the investor. Estateguru's July 2026 report asked investors to update saved payment details after its bank migration, with a new virtual IBAN (Estateguru). Tax statements, withdrawals and changes in each platform's exit rules also need an investor's attention; the how-to guide lists where each platform keeps its records.

Idle cash, withdrawals and resale

On Maclear, accrual covers funded balances only. PeerBerry's Auto Invest can hold a chosen amount uninvested. Income therefore depends on how much of the balance sits in funded loans on a given day. Debitum's withdrawal help of 13 March 2026 predates Flow, whose queue is a separate facility.

Interruptions to income, with dates

These events differ in kind: administration, two Estonian bankruptcies, a paused and then closed retail channel with continuing servicing, and disabled new investment. Funding Circle's statement says receipts and withdrawals of available cash continued after the closure. The risk guide covers defaults and platform failures in detail.

Maclear's FAQ of 10 September 2026 describes a provision fund that receives 2% of each successfully funded project. Payments into the fund come from Maclear's revenues, held in a segregated bank account. It is activated when scheduled borrower interest is more than three days late, and its use is limited to the funds available (Maclear).

Comparison assets in August 2026

The ECB figures are monthly averages and the MSCI figure is a 31 August observation, so the table compares different observation dates. Different risks attach to the assets and the figures are not returns an investor received.

Tax on the income in six countries

The tax guide covers withholding, losses and declaration forms for 13 countries.

Passive income from crowdlending: FAQ

Is crowdlending income paid monthly?

It depends on the product. Maclear credits interest monthly, and Debitum pays month-end interest on bullet and amortising assets and daily interest on Flow. PeerBerry pays short-term loans at closure, while Mintos Notes follow the schedule of the underlying loans.

Is interest earned the same as interest paid?

No. PeerBerry's July report says "earned" and its August report says "paid" for the monthly figure. Its dashboard return includes interest counted but not yet paid. Go & Grow reports returns earned by customers, and Estateguru's August payments of €6.82 million contained €0.56 million of earnings.

Can I live off the payments without reinvesting?

Maclear's terms require accrued Borrower payments to be withdrawn within 60 days of receipt or reinvested within 30 days of receipt. Mintos Core Loans can be stopped. Withdrawal limits then apply. Maclear sets a €50 minimum and PeerBerry caps a transaction at €15,000. Go & Grow charges €1 per withdrawal (help page of 22 April 2026).

Does income continue if a platform stops accepting new investors?

Funding Circle's statement says that after the retail closure it continued servicing existing loans, with receipts and withdrawals of available cash continuing. Bankruptcy is a different event: the Estonian business register lists Envestio SI OÜ as in bankruptcy, with a trustee role starting on 9 June 2020.

Is there a 2026 return range to plan with?

Mintos's annual series ends with 2024 at a net 9.3%. Meanwhile, monthly reports from the platforms state flows and stocks without an average balance. So a 2026 return for a given account has to come from that account's own statements.