SoLo Funds is an mobile app that brings Peer to Peer lending to iPhone and Android.
I’m putting $1k of my own money into the app so that you can see the real world results. I am starting this investing challenge on August 1, 2022.
| SOLO FUNDS | ||||||||||
| Date | Borrower | Rating | Amount | SoLo Donation | Donation % | Tip | Tip % | On Time? | Amount Repaid | Return |
| 8/1/22 | Riley R | 64 | $100.00 | $8.00 | 8.00% | $15.00 | 15.00% | N | $0.00 | -100.00% |
| 8/23/22 | Amber H | 95 | $500.00 | $35.00 | 7.00% | $35.00 | 7.00% | Y | $570.00 | 6.54% |
| 9/4/22 | Mark W | 67 | $175.00 | $12.25 | 7.00% | $15.00 | 8.57% | Y | $202.25 | 8.01% |
| 9/4/22 | Heather S | 99 | $550.00 | $38.50 | 7.00% | $80.00 | 14.55% | Y | $668.50 | 13.59% |
| 9/17/22 | Maricel B | 99 | $550.00 | $38.50 | 7.00% | $33.00 | 6.00% | |||
| Cumulative | $1,875.00 | $132.25 | 7.05% | $178.00 | 9.49% | 66.6% | $1440.75 | 2.74% | ||
| Average | $375.00 | $26.45 | 7.20% | $35.60 | 10.22% | 66.6% | $360.19 |
August 1, 2022
Borrower: Riley R.
SoLo Score: 64
Amount: $100
Lender Tip: 15%
Repaid: $0
Date Repaid: N/A
Net $(108)
I wanted my first loan to be one with higher upside. The first thing I did was to sort the available loans by lender tip size. I chose this loan because it was an above-entry SoLo score, with a manageable loan size, and the highest tip at the time. While I noticed one previous late payment for Riley, I also noted that the most recent loan had been paid on time.
Looking back, this was a mistake. I hadn’t correctly calculated the cost of a late payment. The recovery fee charged by SoLo kicks in at 12:01 AM on the day after the payment is due. While there is a grace period before the late fee is added, there is no grace period for the recovery fee. This means that if the loan gets paid back even a minute late, you end up in the negative.
August 23, 2022
Borrower: Amber H.
SoLo Score: 95
Amount: $500
Lender Tip: 7%
Repaid: $535
Date Repaid: September 4, 2022
Net $35
After my first loan went into default, I went all the way to the other end of the spectrum. I funded this loan based on the borrower’s history: 12 loans repaid, 0 late payments. Amber actually paid back this loan two days early. Because SoLo uses a “tip” instead of “interest”, you still get the full tip even if they loan is paid back early.
September 4, 2022
Borrower: Mark W.
SoLo Score: 67
Amount: $175
Lender Tip: 9%
Repaid: $190
September 16, 2022
Net $15
A lot of borrowers on SoLo are borrowing just to increase their limit. The initial limit for borrowers is $100, and each repaid loan increases that amount by $50. I funded this loan because it looked like the borrower was trying to increase his limit, which leads me to believe a better chance of being repaid.
September 4, 2022
Borrower: Heather S.
SoLo Score: 99
Amount: $550
Lender Tip: 15%
Repaid: $668.50
September 16, 2022
Net $80
I’ve noticed two very interesting things about the information SoLo Funds provides. First is the SoLo donation, and the fact that it isn’t consistent. Riley’s loan had an 8% SoLo donation, and all the others have been 7%. I’ve browsed lots of other loans in the market and a tiny number have 8% donations, Mostly, this is on loans for less than $100, but the first loan to Riley was for $100. If you have any ideas as to why there is this difference, please let me know in the comments.
Second, the platform rounds off the tip % in the listings. You might be seeing a 15% tip, but it might also be 14.55%, just rounded up for display purposes. I’m not against this entirely, but it can be misleading.
September 17, 2022
Borrower: Maricel B.
SoLo Score: 99
Amount $550
Lender Tip: 6%
If you’ve read this far and decide that you’d like to give SoLo Funds a try, please consider using my link to sign up. You’ll get $5 off your first loan, and you’ll help support the site!