Risk Management Instruments Offered by P2P Lending Platforms. A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis Based on a Scoring System

The development of FinTech (i.e. financial technology) is opening up a wide range of unexplored possibilities for borrowers, investors and intermediaries. In particular, peer-to-peer crowdfunding broadens the scope of direct fund transfers inside the financial system. Small investors can independently evaluate, select and finance small companies or other private individuals. However, nobody could deny that peer-to-peer crowdfunding also poses potential threats and presents various critical aspects. One of the open questions is whether small investors and small borrowers accessing an online platform have enough instruments to gauge and manage financial risks. The work is focused on this question and proposes a structured assessment on the strengths and weaknesses of a sample of peer-to-peer lending platforms, calculating a score based on the wealth instruments offered.