Invest in loans

Investing through the SAVY platform is only possible using a Paysera account. This provides an extra layer of security – investors’ funds are held in a personal account, separate from the platform. To start investing, you need to open an account with Paysera, an electronic money institution regulated by the Bank of Lithuania. The account is completely free for individuals and can be opened in just a few minutes by completing the registration form and verifying your identity. Currently, investing is only available via Paysera, but options are planned to expand in the future.

ChatGPT said:

SAVY ensures the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing by applying the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) principle – a set of processes designed to verify a client’s identity, understand the origin of their funds, and assess the risk of money laundering or terrorist financing associated with them.

In compliance with the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal requirements, we must collect certain information about our clients and their funds both before and during business relationships. Clients are required to complete special KYC questionnaires and provide information about their activities, financial situation, and the source of their funds.

Once the information is received, SAVY evaluates it and, if necessary, may request additional data or documents to ensure accuracy and compliance with legal requirements. Clients are also asked to periodically update their information. Failure to provide the required information may result in temporary restrictions on services or, in extreme cases, termination of the business relationship.

A Politically Exposed Person (PEP) is an individual who currently holds, or has held within the past 12 months, an important public position, as well as their close family members or close associates. Clients identified as PEPs must undergo additional steps related to identity verification and the source of their funds. If you are not the PEP yourself, you may also need to clarify your relationship with the politically exposed person. This is required by law, and failure to provide the necessary information may result in temporary restrictions on services or, in extreme cases, termination of the business relationship.

Examples of important public positions include:

• Head of state, head of government, minister, deputy minister, state secretary, or chancellor of parliament, government, or ministry.

• Member of parliament.

• Member of a supreme court, constitutional court, or other high judicial institution whose decisions cannot be appealed.

• Mayor or director of a municipal administration.

• Member of the management body of the supreme state audit and control institution or central bank governor, deputy, or board member.

• Ambassador, chargé d’affaires, commander of the armed forces, military unit leaders, chief of defense staff, or high-ranking foreign military officer.

• Member of the management or supervisory board of a state-owned company or corporation where the state owns more than half of the voting shares.

• Member of the management or supervisory board of a municipality-owned company where the municipality owns more than half of the voting shares and the company is considered large under Lithuanian financial reporting law.

• Head, deputy, or management board member of an international intergovernmental organization.

• Leader, deputy, or management board member of a political party.

After creating a business account, you need to complete a 5-step questionnaire regulated by the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing of the Republic of Lithuania (LR) and related legal acts. This questionnaire includes:

1. Information about the legal entity;

2. Information about the director and other responsible persons;

3. Information about the planned business activities;

4. Additional questions;

5. Uploading documents.

ChatGPT said:

A business entity can invest in consumer loans from 10 € to 500 €. This limit is set by the Lithuanian Consumer Credit Law and is the same as for individuals. For crowdfunding (business) loans, business entities can invest from €10, and there is no maximum investment limit. The number of consumer or business loans that can be financed is also unlimited.

ChatGPT said:

Income is recorded on an accrual basis and is taxed according to the corporate income tax rates applicable to legal entities registered in Lithuania.

The accrual principle means that income is recognized in the accounting records not at the moment of receipt (cash inflow), but when it is earned—that is, when the right to the income arises. For example, if a legal entity grants a loan and, according to the loan agreement, is entitled to receive 500 € in interest over the loan term, the entire amount is recognized as income at the moment the loan is granted, regardless of when the interest is actually paid. If the loan is repaid early or part of it remains unpaid, the corresponding accrued but unreceived interest is written off as an expense.

Investment reports for legal entities are conveniently accessible in the Business Account. They provide all the necessary information about investments: invested amount, received and receivable interest, late payment fees, accrued interest, secondary market gains/losses, overdue loans, active and inactive investments, investment-related expenses, and annual tax data. All this information is presented in a structured format, suitable for financial accounting and tax reporting.

ChatGPT said:

Legal entities, like individuals, can invest in consumer loans through the Investors’ Fund and protect their investments if the borrower fails to meet their obligations for 90 consecutive days. In such cases, investors receive lower interest, but the Investors’ Fund pays out the unpaid portion of the investment along with accrued interest for the 90-day period. If there are occasionally insufficient funds in the Investors’ Fund to cover all losses, compensations are paid on a first-come, first-served basis as soon as funds become available.

Secondary market commissions are recorded as business operating expenses, which reduce taxable profit.

You can invest between 10 € and 500 € in a single consumer loan, and between 100 € and 1000 € in a single mortgage loan. For crowdfunding (business) loans, the minimum investment is 10 €, with no maximum investment limit. There is also no limit to the number of consumer, mortgage, or business loans you can invest in.

Please note that if an investor has already invested the maximum allowed amount in a single loan, they will not be able to invest in other loans issued by the same borrower.

We recommend diversifying your investments across as many loans as possible. This helps to spread the risk and reduce potential losses in case a borrower fails to meet their obligations.

In the loan list, you will find important information about the loan and its borrower. First, pay attention to the loan’s annual interest rate, SAVY credit rating, loan term, and purpose. If it is a consumer loan, it is important to assess the default risk assigned to each credit rating. When investing in loans to individuals, you can also see the borrower’s age, gender, education, work experience, previously settled registered debts (if any), place of residence, and information about any real estate owned.

Consumer loans do not have collateral, but if you invest in a mortgage loan, you will see information about the pledged property and the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.

If it is a business loan, the company name, legal form, business description, financial status, guarantees, pledged assets, and other relevant information are provided. Each loan also shows the progress of its funding.

Once the borrower makes a payment, the funds are distributed to investors according to the investment queue order. If the received funds are insufficient to cover the entire payment, the portion of investments and interest allocated to investors is proportional to the size of their investments. If the funds are not enough to cover the first investment in the queue, a smaller investment next in line is covered. When monetary funds are received from a borrower who was late on payments, late fees owed to investors are deducted first, followed by the current month’s installment.

The more attractive a loan is to investors—whether it’s a consumer, housing, or crowdfunding (business) loan—the faster it gets funded. Depending on the amount and the annual interest rate, funding can take anywhere from a few minutes to 7 days. The vast majority of attractive loans are funded automatically, so we recommend setting up automatic investment profiles to avoid missing out on opportunities to invest in preferred short-term loans with high annual interest rates. Once funded, the loan amount is transferred to the borrower; however, investments may be returned if the borrower rejects the loan or no longer meets the lending criteria due to changed circumstances, such as job loss or exceeding the allowable income-to-obligation ratio because of new credits.

Investments in consumer and housing loans cannot be canceled, so please invest responsibly. Investments in business loans can be canceled within 4 calendar days from the moment of investment. You can do this in the SAVY self-service section under “My Portfolio” → “Reserved.” By clicking the “View” button next to the desired loan, you will see the option to cancel the investment.

The balance shown in SAVY corresponds to the funds available in your personal “Paysera” account.

Investors can suspend their account at any time – in this case, the servicing fee will no longer be charged. Account information will remain accessible, and returns from active investments will continue to be transferred to the “Paysera” account linked to the profile. You will also be able to sell your investments on the secondary market — at a premium, discount, or at cost — but your ability to invest in the primary and secondary markets will be limited. To suspend your account, please write to investuoju@savy.lt.

You can start investing at any time — log in to your account and re-approve the Portal’s Terms of Use agreement. Your account will be activated, and you will be able to invest again in both the primary and secondary markets, securing a source of passive income.

You can transfer funds from your SAVY-linked “Paysera” account to another of your bank accounts at any time. No additional fees are charged for withdrawing money from “Paysera.”

If you decide to stop investing with SAVY, you can withdraw your invested funds in two ways: by selling investments on the secondary market (at a discount, premium, or at cost) or by waiting for borrowers to repay loans according to the schedule — the repaid amounts will be transferred to your “Paysera” account. If you have activated automatic investment profiles, we recommend disabling them to prevent funds from being reinvested.

To close your investor account on the SAVY platform, please write to investuoju@savy.lt. Depending on the amount of investments you hold, SAVY will take the necessary actions, such as disconnecting your “Paysera” account from the profile. This will render your investor account inactive, and no servicing fees will be applie

In the event of the investor’s death, the funds held in the “Paysera” account are inherited according to the law or a will. However, the investor’s heirs may be unaware of the existing SAVY account, as such information is not reflected in public registers. To ensure that heirs can inherit not only the investments returned to the investor’s personal “Paysera” account but also future incoming investments, the investor should proactively inform their close relatives about having an active SAVY investment account.

SAVY is a licensed crowdfunding service provider supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. SAVY operates in accordance with the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business and other applicable laws. You can view the issued license here: License Information.

SAVY automatically calculates the interest and other investment-related income received by investors during the year and submits this data to the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI). This information is reflected in the preliminary income tax declaration prepared by VMI, accessible through the Electronic Declaration System (EDS). Based on this data, investors are required to submit an annual income tax declaration (form GPM308) for the previous year by May 2nd each year. Investors are notified by email once the data is available in the preliminary declaration.

Currently, you can choose one of two tax relief options.

500 € interest allowance: For Lithuanian citizens (residency does not matter) receiving interest from peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms, a 500 € allowance applies, so income tax is paid only on the amount exceeding 500 €.

Investment account (IS) allowance: From 2025, the investment account (IS) regulation came into effect. This new system allows you not only to defer income tax payments while funds are reinvested but also to include incurred investment expenses in reducing the taxable profit.

– For Foreign Individuals (Non-Residents of Lithuania)

According to applicable laws, SAVY is responsible for collecting the personal income tax (PIT) from investors who are not permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania. The PIT rate is 15% and is automatically deducted from the earned interest when a loan payment is received. Additionally, there is currently a €500 tax exemption, but this exemption can only be applied at the end of the year when submitting the annual income tax declaration.

If you are not a permanent resident of the Republic of Lithuania and live in a country that has signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Lithuania, you can reduce the applicable income tax rate. Please contact us by email at investuoju@savy.lt, and we will provide all necessary information on how to reduce the applicable PIT rate.

– For Foreign Legal Entities (Foreign Companies)

Whether interest is taxable depends on the country in which your company is registered. If the country is within the European Economic Area (EEA) or has signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the Republic of Lithuania, profit tax is not withheld. To benefit from the profit tax exemption, you need to provide us with supporting documents via email at investuoju@savy.lt.

Such documents could be a certificate of residence issued by the foreign tax authority (DAS-1 form) titled “Request of a Foreign State Resident to Reduce Withholding Tax,” or a form related to the application of international double taxation avoidance agreements (FR0021) filled out on the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI) website. If the countries are not on any of these lists, a 10% profit tax applies.

When investing in consumer loans, it is most convenient to choose an automated investment strategy. You can compare them based on four key criteria: average weighted historical interest rate, actual return (XIRR), predicted delay probability, and actual default rate. Four strategies are offered: Cautious, Conservative, Balanced, and Aggressive. You also have the option to create a custom investment profile for both consumer and business loans in the primary and secondary markets. In total, you can have up to 20 different profiles.

All investors with automatic investment profiles invest in loans according to the investors’ queue. That is, after investing in an application that meets all the investor’s specified criteria, the investor moves to the end of the queue of investors who invest automatically and waits for their turn.

Even if a loan matches the selected automatic investment criteria, not all investors whose criteria it meets may invest in it. This happens when a specific investor’s turn in the queue has not yet come.

– Consumer Loans

If the borrower fails to meet their obligations, late payment interest is charged for each overdue day. After approximately 40 days, the debt is transferred to pre-judicial recovery and registered in the “Creditinfo” or “Scorify” databases to prevent the client from taking on new obligations.

SAVY may terminate the agreement after 6–7 missed payments or earlier if the client is uncooperative. Once the agreement is terminated, late payment interest is no longer calculated. More information about the recovery process can be found here>>>

– Crowdfunding (Business) Loans

If the borrower fails to meet their obligations, late payment interest and penalty interest are charged for each overdue day. The agreement is terminated after 3 missed payments, unless the borrower is cooperative and an agreement is reached. More information about the recovery process can be found here>>>

How are statutory interest (default interest awarded by the court) calculated?

Statutory interest is awarded by the court. By default, individuals are charged 5% annual interest on the adjudged amount, and legal entities – 6%.