Investing

With Cashare, you lend your money directly to private individuals and companies in Switzerland. Cashare reviews the loan applications, publishes the loan projects and handles all payments. The process has four steps:

1. Register: You open an account free of charge. See How do I register as an investor?
2. Invest: You choose a loan project and the amount, or your Investment Bot invests with Auto-Invest according to your rules. See How do I invest?
3. Pay in: You pay for your investment with the QR-bill that you receive for each loan project. See How and when do I pay in?
4. Receive returns: We pass the borrowers' instalments on to your bank account. See How and when do I receive my returns?

At the latest after your first investment, you verify your identity personally, see How do I verify my identity?

Only invest money that you do not need for everyday life, and spread it across many loans. Borrowers can default, and you can lose capital.

• Invest directly in loans: You fund loans to private individuals and companies in Switzerland. You decide for yourself which loan projects you invest in and how much.
• Reviewed loan projects: Cashare reviews every application and assigns a rating. This shows you how we assess the risk.
• Regular returns: With instalment loans, you receive interest and repayment in your bank account every month.
• Diversification: With small amounts per loan, you spread your money across many borrowers, terms and types of loan.
• Auto-Invest: If you wish, the system invests automatically according to your rules.
• Handled by Cashare: We monitor the repayments and take care of reminders and collection.

Cashare is the first crowdlending platform in Switzerland and has been operating since 2008. On average, our investors achieve a return of 5–7% per year. This is not a guarantee: borrowers can default, and you can lose capital.

The fees you pay are listed in the fee schedule.

Institutional investors invest in Swiss personal and SME loans through Cashare. There are three solutions for this:

• Direct investment: You invest in individual loan projects yourself and make your own selection.
• Managed account: Our specialists select the loans according to your requirements.
• White-label solution: You offer loans as an investment to your own clients under your own brand.

The nominal interest rates of the loans are between 4.4% and 14.9%, depending on the rating and type of loan. Borrowers can default, and you can lose capital.

To arrange a meeting, write to us at institutional@cashare.ch. For a direct investment, you can also register as an investor yourself.

Open your account via Become an investor. Choose whether you are investing as a private individual or for a company, and confirm your email address using the link we send you. The account is free of charge.

You will then see all ongoing loan projects in your account under "Loan projects" and can invest. If you already have an account, sign in via the login.

The requirements are explained in Who can invest with Cashare?

As a private individual, you need:

• a place of residence in Switzerland or Liechtenstein
• a personal bank account with a Swiss bank
• to be at least 18 years old
• to have legal capacity and be capable of judgement

You then register and verify your identity personally, at the latest after your first investment. See How do I verify my identity?

For companies: The company and the authorised signatories verify their identity, and the company submits Form K. See Why is Form A or Form K needed?

If you have a loan with Cashare, you cannot make new investments at the same time, see Can I be an investor and a borrower at the same time?

The Anti-Money Laundering Act requires us to clearly identify all investors. At the latest after your first investment, we need three pieces of evidence:

1. Online identification: You receive an invitation. You take a photo of your ID and of yourself, which takes a few minutes.
2. Personal confirmation: a transfer from your own account or a certified copy of your ID (see below).
3. Proof of address: a recent bill in your name at your address, for example for electricity, telephone or internet.

Transfer: Transfer CHF 5 by e-banking from your own bank account to Cashare AG, PostFinance, IBAN CH06 0900 0000 6076 2123 0. Please do not use a reference number; a payment at the counter is not sufficient. For your investments, on the other hand, use the QR-bill with its reference number.

Certified copy of your ID: Have a copy of your ID certified, for example with Swiss Post's "Yellow Identification", at your municipality or from a notary. Send the original to the address in the imprint.

Upload the proof of address and Form A in your account under "Documents".

For companies: The company proves its identity with a transfer from an account in the company's name or with a certified commercial register extract, plus a proof of address. The authorised signatories verify their identity personally as described above. Instead of Form A, the company submits Form K.

The form records who is the beneficial owner of the assets invested. This is required by the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

• Private individuals fill in Form A.
• Companies fill in Form K.

You submit the form once and upload it in your account under "Documents". If the beneficial ownership changes, a new form is needed.

Other users only see your username, in the list of investors for ongoing loan projects. They cannot see your name or address.

So choose a username that does not reveal who you are or which company you belong to. You can change it later under "User data", see How do I change my password, email address or username?

1. Log in and open "Loan projects" in your account.
2. Check the details of the loan project: rating, interest rate, term, type of loan, security and the description.
3. Choose the amount and confirm the investment. Your investment is binding.
4. You receive a QR-bill by email and in your account under "Invoices". Pay it within 5 days of the end of the loan project.

The interest rate shown is the nominal interest rate that you receive as gross interest income, before fees.

Instead of choosing yourself, you can also use Auto-Invest. How to pay is explained in How and when do I pay in?

You can also buy running loans from other investors, see How do I buy a loan on the secondary market?

No. Your investment is binding as soon as you have confirmed it. This also applies to investments that Auto-Invest has made according to your rules. The borrower relies on the amounts committed; a withdrawal would delay the payout of their loan.

That is why the system asks you once more whether you agree before an investment becomes final.

If you want to pass on an ongoing loan later, you can offer it on the secondary market. A sale is not guaranteed.

For personal loans, you can invest from CHF 100 per loan, for SME loans from CHF 1,000.

Spread your money across many loans instead of investing a large amount in a single loan. The lower the rating, the more loans you need for good diversification. Learn more in What does diversification mean?

• Instalment loan: The borrower pays a fixed monthly instalment made up of interest and repayment. So you get your money back month by month. Learn more in What is an instalment loan?
• Bullet loan: The borrower only repays the entire loan amount at the end of the term. Depending on the contract, the interest is paid monthly, quarterly or at the end. The SME short-term loan is a bullet loan.

You can see which type a loan is in the details of the loan project.

You cannot sell bullet loans on the secondary market, see Which loans can I sell on the secondary market?

You can see whether a loan is secured in the details of the loan project and in the description. Possible types of security are:

• a guarantee
• a mortgage lien, for example a mortgage note on a property
• a security assignment, that is the assignment of receivables

Security can reduce the loss in the event of a default, but does not rule it out. For loans with a mortgage lien, investors pay a custody fee, see the fee schedule.

Personal loans are also insured in the event of death, as far as the General Insurance Conditions (GIC) allow, see What insurance do borrowers have?

A partially funded loan project can also be paid out. The contracts are created for the funded amount as usual, so your investment stands.

For the rest, the borrower can start a follow-up loan project free of charge within 30 days. The term and interest rate stay the same. We publish it immediately, during office hours. You can then invest again; Auto-Invest only does so according to your rules.

The borrower can withdraw from the contract within the revocation period: 14 days for loans under the Consumer Credit Act (CCA), 14 days for other personal loans and 10 days for loans to companies. In that case, the loan does not go ahead.

If you have already invested in a loan from the same borrower, the loan project shows this with a tick. This also applies to earlier loan projects of this borrower that have already been completed.

This helps you decide whether you want to spread your money further. Learn more in What does diversification mean?

This is usually for one of these reasons:

• Interest rate shown: As an investor, you see the nominal interest rate that you receive as gross interest income. Borrowers see the annual percentage rate, as required by the Consumer Credit Act (CCA). Depending on which rate you use for your own calculation, you will get a slightly different amount.
• Rounding: Instalments and interest portions are rounded to the nearest centime; for older contracts to 5 centimes. The payment plan of your contract is what counts.
• Fees: Your interest income is gross, before fees. The fees are listed in the fee schedule.

You can see the payment schedule of each contract in your account under "Contracts".

With the rating, Cashare assesses the risk of a loan. It is based on the borrower's creditworthiness and ability to repay. The better the rating, the lower the risk and the lower the interest rate.

We only publish loan projects with these ratings:

For SME loans, the nominal interest rate is between 5.9% and 14.9%, depending on the rating, the type of loan and the security.

We reject applications with a worse rating. Even a good rating is no guarantee: borrowers can default, and you can lose capital.

You can find out more about the rating on the Cashare rating page.

The higher the risk of a loan, the higher its interest rate. The higher interest rate compensates you for the greater chance that the borrower may default.

• Loans with a rating of A or B have lower interest rates and a lower risk.
• Loans with a rating of C have higher interest rates and a higher risk.

A higher interest rate does not mean you will earn more in the end. If a borrower defaults, you can lose interest and capital. So think about how much risk you can bear, and spread your money across many loans. See What does diversification mean?

Diversification means spreading your money across many loans instead of investing everything in just a few. If a borrower defaults, this then only affects a small part of your money.

You can diversify on several levels:

• Borrowers: many different borrowers, with small amounts per loan
• Rating: loans from different rating classes
• Type of loan: personal loans and SME loans, instalment loans and bullet loans
• Security: loans without security and loans with security such as a guarantee, a mortgage lien or a global assignment, see How can I tell whether a loan has security?
• Term: short and long terms

From CHF 100 per personal loan, you can spread even a smaller amount widely. Auto-Invest can help you do this.

Diversification reduces the risk, but does not eliminate it. Even a widely diversified portfolio can make losses.

Not every application is published. We check the creditworthiness and the ability to repay of every borrower. We reject applications that do not meet our criteria.

We rely on:

• information from the Swiss credit agencies CRIF, Creditreform and Bisnode
• for personal loans, the Central Office for Credit Information (ZEK) and the Consumer Credit Information Office (IKO)
• documents from the borrower, for example a debt collection register extract, salary statement or annual financial statements

For personal loans, we carry out the credit assessment required by the Consumer Credit Act (CCA). It is designed to prevent people from taking on excessive debt. The assessment results in the rating.

Our scoring: Cashare has developed its own scoring model for the rating.

• Personal loans: First we check exclusion criteria, for example a certificate of loss or a wage garnishment. Then we calculate a weighted score from a wide range of characteristics, including income and budget, employment and industry, household, security, the information from the credit agencies and the ZEK, the history with Cashare and economic data from the Swiss National Bank and the KOF.
• SME loans: Quantitative values determine the larger part of the rating: the credit report from Creditreform and the financial ratios from the annual financial statements, with the most recent year weighted double. A qualitative assessment of business strength, shock factors, financial strength and industry determines the smaller part.

If a credit agency shows a red light, we additionally review the application by hand. An analyst checks every result before we set the rating.

The requirements borrowers have to meet are explained in What requirements do I need to meet for a personal loan?

The assessment reduces the risk, but does not rule out a default.

• Death: Every personal loan is insured in the event of the borrower's death, as far as the General Insurance Conditions (GIC) allow. The insurance then covers the outstanding amount, up to the maximum sum insured.
• Incapacity for work and unemployment: This insurance is optional. If the borrower has taken it out, it covers the monthly instalment for a limited period after a waiting period.

The insurance conditions apply. The benefits in detail are explained in How much am I insured for?

The insurance does not cover every default. You can see whether a loan is insured in the details of the loan project.

With Auto-Invest, you set up your Investment Bot: you define once which loans you want to invest in. The Investment Bot then checks every new loan project and invests directly if it matches your conditions. This way, you do not miss any loan projects, even if they are funded quickly.

For example, you can set:

• the amount per loan
• the maximum amount for this Auto-Invest
• the type of loan (personal or SME)
• instalment loan or bullet loan
• security (guarantee, mortgage lien, security assignment)
• the term (minimum and maximum)
• the interest rate range
• the rating (A to C)

The Investment Bot follows only these rules. For example, it can invest in the same borrower more than once if their loan projects match your rules.

The Investment Bot invests until the maximum amount is reached. Every investment made by the Investment Bot is binding, just like a manual investment; you cannot withdraw from it.

You can also invest in other loan projects yourself at any time. If something you want cannot be set up with the settings, invest manually instead.

The Investment Bot spreads your money according to your rules, but it does not protect you against losses. Borrowers can default, and you can lose capital.

You can find your Auto-Invest portfolios in your account under "Auto-Invest".

• Change: Use "Edit" to adjust the rules at any time. From the moment you save, the Investment Bot only invests according to the new rules.
• Pause: Set the status to "off". The Investment Bot then stops investing until you set the status back to "on".
• Delete: Use "Delete" to remove the portfolio. You can create a new one at any time.

Investments that the Investment Bot has already made remain in place in any case.

Yes, as many as you like. This lets you follow different strategies, for example a higher amount per loan for a better rating.

We recommend starting with one portfolio and gaining some experience first. You can also invest manually at any time. So that you do not miss suitable loan projects, set up your notifications accordingly.

No. Auto-Invest is free of charge and does not change the fees. The same fees apply to your investments as to a manual investment, see Which fees do I pay as an investor?

On the secondary market, you sell ongoing loans to other investors. It is free of charge to use. In your account, you offer a loan under "Contracts" with "Sell".

You can sell instalment loans that are not in arrears.

You cannot sell:

• loans in arrears
• bullet loans, for example SME short-term loans. They have no ongoing instalments from which a buyer could see the borrower's payment behaviour. In addition, the interest accrued up to the sale cannot be divided fairly.

A sale is not guaranteed. It depends on whether another investor wants to buy the loan. How the price is made up is explained in How is the price of a loan made up?

Open the secondary market in your account and choose an offer. The information window shows the remaining amount, the purchase price with all discounts and premiums, and the resulting return. Click "Buy now" to make the purchase.

When buying is worthwhile: If you have already invested in loan projects, the secondary market is a good way to diversify your portfolio further, with running loans and without waiting for new loan projects. Look closely at the offer before you buy: the rating, the remaining term, the instalments paid so far and above all the premium or discount on the purchase price. A premium lowers your return, a discount raises it, see How is the price of a loan made up?

The purchase is binding. You then receive the future instalments of this loan. Borrowers can default, and you can lose capital. This applies in exactly the same way to loans bought on the secondary market.

Current value: This consists of the remaining amount, that is the capital still outstanding, the accrued interest and the share of the platform fee that the seller has already paid for the remaining term.

Discount or premium: The seller can offer the loan at a reduction (discount) or a surcharge (premium) on the current value.

Purchase price: This is the current value, less the discount or plus the premium. A discount increases the return for the buyer, a premium reduces it.

When a loan is sold on the secondary market, the claim against the borrower passes to another investor. The assignment agreement documents this transfer.

You do not need to sign the agreement or send it back. The sale or purchase on the platform is what is binding. You can find the agreement in your account.

For each investment, you receive a QR-bill by email and in your account under "Invoices". You use it to pay the amount invested and the fees. There is no prepaid account at Cashare.

Pay the invoice within 5 days of the end of the loan project, using your banking app or e-banking. This is the only way the loan can be paid out on time.

Direct debit: Instead of making the transfer yourself, you can have the amounts collected by LSV+ (banks) or Debit Direct (PostFinance). This also applies to investments made by Auto-Invest. How to set up direct debit is explained in How do I set up direct debit? Make sure there are sufficient funds in your account; a fee is charged for a returned debit, see the fee schedule.

The borrowers pay their instalments to Cashare. Our system books each payment, splits it among the investors in the loan and passes it on to your bank account the next day.

• Instalment loans: You receive interest and repayment every month.
• Bullet loans: You receive the capital at the end of the term and the interest monthly, quarterly or at the end, depending on the contract.

For this, you enter the IBAN of your personal bank account in your profile. You can see which payments have been received for each contract in your account under "Contracts".

Your returns depend on the borrowers paying. If a borrower does not pay, see What happens if a borrower does not pay?

The repayments first go to your personal bank account. If you want to invest the money again, invest in a new loan project and pay the QR-bill as usual.

To reinvest automatically, use Auto-Invest together with direct debit (LSV+): your Investment Bot invests according to your rules, and the amount is collected from your bank account.

All payments from investors and borrowers are made through collective accounts of Cashare AG, one at PostFinance and one at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. These accounts are used to process client payments.

• Instalments from borrowers are passed on to the investors the next day.
• Loan amounts are paid out to the borrower as soon as all conditions are met: after 14 days for loans under the Consumer Credit Act (CCA), after 14 days for other personal loans and after 10 days for loans to companies.

Cashare takes care of reminders and collection on behalf of the investors. If an instalment is not paid, we send reminders in fixed steps:

1. Payment reminder
2. 1st reminder notice 10 days after the due date
3. 2nd reminder notice 20 days after the due date
4. 3rd reminder notice with notice of debt collection proceedings 30 days after the due date, with a payment deadline of 10 days

For bullet loans, we send the final reminder notice earlier, see the fee schedule. If the borrower still does not pay, the entire loan may become due and we will initiate debt collection proceedings. See How do debt collection proceedings work?

Late payment interest: For loans under the Consumer Credit Act (CCA), it is at most the agreed annual percentage rate (Art. 18 para. 3 CCA). For other loans, the rate in the loan contract applies. If the borrower pays the late payment interest, we pass it on to the investors.

Cashare conducts debt collection proceedings on behalf of the investors. We keep you informed of every step. We cannot influence the deadlines of the debt collection offices and courts; proceedings often take several weeks to months.

1. Payment order: The debt collection office serves the payment order on the debtor. The debtor has 10 days to raise an objection and 20 days to pay (Art. 69 and 74 DEBA).
2. Objection: If the debtor disputes the claim, we apply to the court for the removal of the objection. Beforehand, we give the debtor the opportunity to withdraw the objection. The loan contract counts as an acknowledgement of debt, so the court usually grants the removal of the objection. Cashare pays the advance on costs.
3. Request to continue: If the debtor does not pay and no objection is pending any more, we file a request to continue the debt collection proceedings with the debt collection office.
4. Seizure or bankruptcy: Depending on the debtor, the proceedings continue by way of seizure or bankruptcy, see What happens in the event of a seizure or bankruptcy?

The terms are also explained in the credit glossary.

Seizure: In most cases, the debt collection office seizes the debtor's wages, that is the income above the subsistence minimum, for a maximum of one year. The money usually stays with the debt collection office until the end of this period. We then receive it and, after deducting the debt collection costs, pass it on to the investors. If the amount is not sufficient, the office issues a certificate of loss for the rest. We then request a further seizure for as long as this is possible.

Bankruptcy: For debtors who are subject to bankruptcy proceedings, for example those with a sole proprietorship, the debt collection office serves a notice of bankruptcy. If the debtor does not pay and does not reach a payment agreement with us, we apply to the court to open bankruptcy proceedings. The bankruptcy proceedings are conducted by the bankruptcy office. They often take several months, sometimes more than a year. Whatever is paid out to the creditors from the bankruptcy, we pass on to the investors. For the uncovered remainder, we receive a certificate of loss.

We keep you informed of every step.

A certificate of loss confirms that the claim was not covered, or only partly covered, in the debt collection proceedings. The claim is thereby acknowledged, but not lost.

There are two types:

• Certificate of loss after seizure: Within 6 months, the debt collection proceedings can be continued without a new payment order (Art. 149 DEBA).
• Certificate of loss after bankruptcy: New debt collection proceedings are only possible if the debtor has acquired new assets (Art. 265 DEBA).

A certificate of loss becomes time-barred 20 years after it was issued (Art. 149a DEBA). Cashare regularly checks the debtors' situation. If a debtor has income or assets again, we start new debt collection proceedings.

Cannot be found: We carry out an address search. A fee may be charged for this, see the fee schedule. Together with our lawyers, we also check whether fraud is involved and, if so, file a criminal complaint.

Moving abroad: Under the loan contract, the entire outstanding amount then becomes due. If the borrower continues to pay the instalments, no further steps are needed. If the instalments stop, we hand the case over to a collection partner in the country concerned.

Your account, Auto-Invest and the secondary market are free of charge. For each investment, you pay a platform fee; it is charged once when the contract is concluded, with the QR-bill.

In certain cases, other fees may apply, for example a custody fee for loans with a mortgage lien. All fees and amounts are listed in the fee schedule.

Reminder fees and collection costs are paid by the borrower, not by you.

Yes. At the beginning of each year, we provide you with the tax statement for the previous year in your account under "Documents". It contains:

• the interest received
• the balance of your loans on 31 December
• an overview per loan

Interest from loans is taxable income, and the balance counts as assets. Where you enter the details in your tax return depends on the canton; if you have questions, your tax office can help.

If you need a tax statement during the year, contact the support team, see How can I contact Cashare?

Log in. In your account, you will find:

• under "Contracts", all your contracts, with the status of payments for each contract
• your investments in ongoing loan projects
• under "Invoices", your open and paid invoices
• under "Documents", the tax statement and other documents

This way, you can see at any time which instalments have been received and which are still outstanding.

In your account under "Notifications", you choose which loan projects we inform you about by email. You can also subscribe to or unsubscribe from the newsletter there.

If you do not receive any emails from us at all, see I am not receiving any emails from Cashare. What can I do?

The XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return) is the internal rate of return of your payments. It converts all payments made at different times into a return per year.

In your account, the XIRR shows the expected net return of all your investments, from the first investment to the end of the last contract. It takes into account interest and late payment interest, repayments, fees and collection.

Because new payments are added all the time, the XIRR changes. It can fluctuate strongly, especially while you are building up your portfolio. The XIRR is a calculation, not a guarantee: if a borrower defaults, it falls.