Lendela is a loan matching platform that matches borrowers with personalised loan options in a matter of minutes. The platform flips the script on borrowing, making it possible for financial institutions to “compete” for a borrower’s business, as opposed to the other way around.
With Lendela’s reverse auction model, borrowers are matched with their most competitive loan options every time, allowing them to skip having to compare or search for options themselves.
Unlike traditional comparison sites that show borrowers advertised rates they’ll rarely qualify for, Lendela’s unique matching model brings real, personalised loan options directly to you in minutes. With a single online application, Lendela allows you to compare genuine offers from multiple financial institutions without damaging your credit score.
Lastly, unlike other platforms that may claim to do the same, Lendela is the only fintech platform in Singapore (and the region) that harnesses the reverse auction model. As we’ll explain below, this is important to note because it means that unlike other platforms that claim to do loan matching, all of which are simply manual online brokers, Lendela is the only platform that can do so while
anonymising your personal information,
protecting your credit score, and
matching borrowers with personalised options at scale.
Is borrowing broken?
For too long, borrowers in Singapore and across the region have had to navigate a lending industry that had several fundamental issues working against them.
Your real options aren’t shown to you. Financial institutions advertise rates that most borrowers do not actually qualify for. Instead, borrowers are shown ‘teaser’ rates that apply to only the most ideal applicants. As a result, most borrowers waste time chasing unrealistic offers, only to be disappointed when the real rates arrive.
Comparison platforms don’t always help. These platforms often advertise the same misleading rates, funneling borrowers to providers without actually helping them secure a competitive offer. Worse still, borrowers who apply across multiple lenders to compare rates risk damaging their credit score — ironically making it harder to access better options.
Larger players created an unequal playing field. The current system rewards major financial institutions that can outspend smaller competitors on advertising. This limits competition and leaves borrowers stuck with fewer, costlier options.
How Lendela flips the script on borrowing
Lendela was created to address this imbalance and put borrowers back in control. Our unique reverse auction model ensures that lenders compete to win your business, giving you access to personalised, pre-approved offers in minutes — without the guesswork.
Instead of filling out multiple applications and risking your credit score, you submit one application on Lendela’s platform. Your profile is shared anonymously with multiple lenders who, in turn, provide offers tailored to your financial standing. You then choose the best offer — on your terms.
Lendela’s promise to you
You get accurate rates that you qualify for: By eliminating misleading advertised rates, you’ll see only personalised loan offers you actually qualify for.
You spend much less time and money: No more endless applications, comparisons, and paying more than you should on interest. Lendela’s reverse auction model means that your most competitive offers from various banks come to you in minutes. We’ve facilitated disbursements in as little as 15 minutes.
You’re not penalised for comparing: One of the key differentiators of the reverse auction model is that it anonymises your personal information while still matching you with personalised loan offers. This way, it protects your credit score from multiple credit checks (if you would have applied with multiple institutions), ensuring you don’t get punished just for exploring your options.
Lendela’s mission — equitable financial access
Lendela’s mission to fix borrowing comes from a deep understanding of just how frustrating and unfair the financial services paradigm can be — and especially in Asia Pacific. Our founder, Nima, experienced these challenges firsthand as the son of an immigrant family in Sweden, where his parents found it difficult to access financial services and products fairly, due in part to their command of the language, but also because of the industry’s general lack of transparency and accountability to consumers.
This experience shaped Nima’s belief that in order for financial services, products, and technology to truly benefit people, they should be fair, transparent, and accessible to all.
After working for over a decade in some of Scandinavia’s most recognisable consumer finance companies, Nima brought his vision to life by founding Lendela in Singapore in 2018 — a platform uniquely designed to help borrowers access their most competitive loan options, but on a level playing field.
Personalised support at no cost at all
Unlike traditional brokers that charge borrowers fees, or comparison platforms that do not provide personalised customer support, Lendela offers personalised, on-demand customer support to guide you through your loan application from start to finish. Whether you have questions about your offers, documents, or timelines, Lendela’s customer success team will always be available to provide transparent information, and at no cost to you.
More importantly, Lendela’s reverse auction model is designed to be objective, with the primary goal of achieving the best outcome for the borrower. Unlike comparison platforms or traditional brokers, the reverse auction model isn’t designed to favour any lending partner or opaque commercial interests — the sole purpose of the model is to match borrowers with their most competitive options, and Lendela only receives a standard-rated cut from every disbursement, no matter the financial institution.
How Lendela protects your data
Lendela’s reverse auction model ensures your personal information is anonymised during the matching process. Financial institutions only see essential financial details to assess your credit profile, and your contact information is only shared once you’ve chosen an offer.
All lending partners are licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), ensuring they adhere to the data protection laws of Singapore.
Lendela’s track record
Finally, Lendela is a fintech platform that has been in Singapore since 2018. We’ve facilitated close to half a million loan applications across Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia since then and count some of the region’s largest financial institutions as partners, including Standard Chartered, DBS, and HSBC.
In 2023, we successfully raised close to $7 million from prominent venture capital firms such as Singapore-based Cocoon Capital to expand our unique model across Asia Pacific.
In short, Lendela is a fast-growing fintech firm on a global mission, and we’re committed to bringing our unique model to the millions of borrowers across Asia Pacific who are stuck in the traditional lending paradigm with no good option.
