We looked at the Maclear platform statistics from the first funded project in 2023 through mid-July 2026 and outlined the patterns that define how a typical Maclear investor behaves.
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We looked at the Maclear platform statistics from the first funded project in 2023 through mid-July 2026 and outlined the patterns that define how a typical Maclear investor behaves.
The path usually runs in stages. First contact with the platform, paired with a small opening investment in an industry the investor already understands — construction, agriculture, retail, something not that difficult to evaluate. Next comes a look at the Maclear bonus offers, and many investors have already arrived through a referral link, so cashback is part of the picture from day one. Once the first interest payment lands, diversification is the next natural step, and the investor starts spreading money across more projects. Somewhere in there, they discover the Secondary Market — though a growing number now find it first and treat it as their entry point. From there it's a matter of planning ahead: building a personal strategy with AutoInvest. Climbing loyalty tiers, and letting compounding effect do its work.
The criteria investors use to judge a platform usually overlap, though the order of priority shifts with their individual goals and needs. In the 2025 Maclear investor survey, 74% of respondents said they choose crowdlending specifically for diversification, 45% for returns, and 44% for passive income.
Therefore, the evaluation parameters for the average investor are as follows:
Whether to put a large sum into one project or spread it across several borrowers comes down to individual preference. Unsurprisingly, investors who've been on the platform longer tend to commit more per investment.
The typical Maclear investor spreads a sum across roughly 17 different projects and 9 different borrowers over their time on the platform.
AutoInvest is what makes that spread manageable. It becomes especially useful once an investor's project count crosses 7–10, once they're managing money across multiple platforms, or once they're reinvesting toward a compounding effect. Investors also point to the convenience of running several strategies at once, each tuned to a different goal.
Total amounts invested on the platform exceed total deposits — a clear signal that interest is being reinvested systematically rather than withdrawn.
The loyalty program reinforces that behavior. It adds 1.5–3% annually on top of each investment, with the 3% tier unlocked at over €75,000 invested. Investors also frequently reinvest the bonus portion from Maclear's standing offer — €30 for every €500 placed in a single project — which turns reinvesting from into a passive habit.
Fixed returns and monthly repayments do the rest, keeping the whole system stable and the results predictable.
The arrival of shorter ACL projects — consumer loans in Africa, typically running just a few months at attractive rates — gave investors a new lever. A project that returns capital faster lets an investor rebalance faster and test new borrower types without locking up funds for the long period. These loans have become a common addition to Maclear portfolios specifically because they diversify risk.
There's a related pattern worth noting: investors often return to a borrower they already know, funding the same borrower's second, third, or fifth project stage. It tends to show up right after the first interest payment comes in — proof the borrower pays, and the investor comes back. On average, a Maclear investor funds close to three projects per borrower over time. The same instinct carries over to the Secondary Market: an investor who already knows a project and sees a chance to buy into its next stage at a discount is far more likely to say yes.
Monthly trading volume on the Secondary Market has passed €2 million, and the average trade size has grown to around €280 — both signs investors now treat it as a working part of their strategy, not a fallback.
For newcomers, it's becoming an entry point in its own right. Loan parts often sell there at a discount, and unlike a primary-market investment, a buyer can review a project's actual repayment history before committing. That's a level of confidence a first investment on the primary market can't offer.
Still, most investors use the Secondary Market as a complement, not a replacement — a tool for extra diversification, added liquidity when it's needed, and a better-timed entry point. Used that way, it fits naturally into a long-term strategy.
For investors who've grown comfortable with how Maclear works, 8lends is an easy next move rather than a new platform to learn. The mechanics are familiar, so the barrier to trying it is low. What it adds is exposure to crypto-backed diversification and yields that run higher than Maclear's own range — a way to extend a strategy an investor already trusts.
Broader survey data backs up the shift: many investors already see crypto as a diversification tool, and 8lends' higher returns compared to Maclear give that instinct a clear next step to act on.
Watching how other investors act, and folding that into your own decisions, is a natural instinct. Our market research into European P2P lending investors more broadly found that a strong majority want visibility into how other investors allocate their money: which projects they fund, how they spread risk, what strategies top performers use.
Nearly 73% of respondents said they'd like to see a dashboard showing both their own allocations and those of other investors. 43% want to see which projects others invest in, 50% want to learn from top-performing strategies, and 43% want visibility into how much others invest and how they spread risk. Only 20% said it doesn't matter to them.
That kind of visibility lets investors examine what's working, benchmark their own approach, and spot borrower niches worth funding next.
