Proudly presenting our shortcomings 5.0
Welcome to our shortcomings page, perhaps the most talked-about page on our website. We all prefer to highlight what we do well, but real progress also requires honesty about what can be improved. This page invites us to engage in a healthy dose of self-reflection. As a transparent impact investing platform, we openly share where things still fall short and where we want to take the next steps. Celebrating successes without acknowledging our weaker points would not align with the standards we set for ourselves. Last updated: January 2026. We look back on 2025 with an impressive 75% growth, our best year ever. But even though 2025 was the strongest year in our history, that does not mean we can sit back and relax. There is still plenty to improve.
#1 Exposure to the US dollar
In 2021, it was a major breakthrough when we were finally able to offer USD-denominated projects. Many financial institutions in Latin America, Central Asia and South Asia prefer to borrow in US dollars rather than euros. Since 2021, offering USD loans has enabled us to welcome more than 25 new borrowers. An impressive result, but one with a downside. More than half of our projects are now USD-denominated, while we do not hedge this currency risk.
In years when the US dollar weakens, this has a negative effect on returns in euros. A declining dollar can be the result of economic uncertainty or shifting government policies in the United States. This is unfortunate, because our loans themselves actually perform very well. For years, we have seen hardly any new payment arrears. We have been searching for a good and affordable solution to hedge this dollar risk for quite some time, but unfortunately have not found one yet. That said, our investment team is actively working to reduce the number of new USD projects. And with success: at the start of 2025, the split was still 70% USD projects versus 30% EUR. In the final two months of the year, more than 60% of the projects we offered were already in euros.
We will continue to look for new solutions. Hopefully, in 2026 we can further reduce dollar risk for investors and consider this shortcoming a thing of the past.
#2 Financial returns are not always clear
We regularly receive compliments about our website, information and communication. We appreciate that. However, there is one point many users unfortunately agree on: it is not easy to see or calculate what return you have actually achieved. The annual statement for tax purposes also still raises questions on a regular basis. For a digital investment platform like Lendahand, that is a painful conclusion. That is why we have worked intensively on this over the past year. Our software developer, Diosa, has worked hard on a new banner that clearly shows each investor’s current financial position. It provides a simple overview of the return you have achieved this year. In addition, we will soon significantly expand the annual statement. It will not only show a total balance, but also how this balance is built up from the individual loans in your portfolio on 31 December. Finally, we are also improving the Excel download with investment details, so everyone can carefully and fully verify the calculations. These improvements will be rolled out shortly. We hope to permanently remove this shortcoming from the list afterwards.
#3 Measuring impact
We work exclusively with impactful financial institutions in emerging markets. The entrepreneurs they lend to are often active in the informal economy, because they have little or no access to the formal financial system. Being able to contribute to affordable financing for these people is something we are proud of. At the same time, this is an important pain point and ambition: we still do not measure the real improvement in quality of life for these end clients well enough. We know our projects create impact, but at this moment we cannot yet sufficiently show Lendahand investors what their contribution means for improving lives worldwide. Ultimately, we want to work towards a form of “true pricing”: a valuation method that also takes into account effects on people and the environment. A value that includes created social impact, expressed in monetary terms or returns. Our goal is to give Lendahand investors insight into both the financial and social returns they achieve. So you not only know how much financial return you have generated, but also how many lives you have improved, expressed in concrete, measurable value. This is an ambitious goal, but an important one.
What shortcomings do you see?
These were our shortcomings 5.0, published in January 2026. We do not share them to show off, but to be transparent about what can still be improved. Because that is what we work on every day: becoming better at what we do, so you can continue to invest in projects that deliver attractive social and financial returns. Thank you for your trust, patience and critical perspective. We remain fully committed.
Do you have questions or suggestions about these shortcomings? Let us know at [email protected]. We read all feedback.