Editorial Policy

macler-reviews.com is an editorial review and comparison site operated by an affiliate partner of Maclear. This page describes how we source facts, assign ratings and handle corrections.

What we are and what we are not

We are a review and comparison site. We cover Maclear and 18 other European P2P lending platforms, scoring all of them against the same published criteria. We are not an investment platform, bank or adviser. We do not hold client money, we do not offer portfolio management and nothing here is a personal recommendation.

We earn a commission when readers open an account with Maclear or 8lends through our affiliate links. We state this clearly in the bar at the top of every page and on how we make money. Ratings for all other platforms are scored independently and are not paid for.

Where numbers come from

Platform facts come from three sources: published disclosures on the platform site, regulator registers and filed accounts where available. We record the date each number was checked and show it on the page. We do not invent statistics, model portfolios with real money invested or named testimonials.

When a platform advertises a return range or target yield we show both the advertised figure and the realised figure where the platform publishes one. Realised returns are normally one to four percentage points lower than advertised. Where a platform does not publish realised data we say so.

Regulator names, licence types and compensation limits are checked against the register of the relevant authority. A Swiss SRO registration is anti-money laundering supervision only and brings no compensation fund. We state this plainly wherever Maclear supervision is mentioned.

How ratings are assigned

Platforms are scored 0 to 100 on five criteria, with weights fixed before any scoring. The criteria and weights are investor protection 30%, execution record 25%, return honesty 20%, structural transparency 15% and liquidity and exit 10%. The full method is published on how we rate.

A score above 70 is green, 50 to 69 is amber and below 50 is red. Scores are editorial opinion, reviewed monthly and updated when new data becomes available. Maclear scores 65% and ranks 10th of the 19 platforms we cover. We do not present it as the top-scoring platform.

8lends is labelled Sponsored and sits outside the ranking. It is not scored because there is insufficient verifiable track-record data to apply the five-criterion method.

How we describe problems

Where a platform has experienced defaults, regulator alerts, frozen withdrawals or public questions about ownership we describe those facts in neutral verifiable terms. We do not defame amber or red platforms. Public events are stated with dates and sources: withdrawals frozen since February 2024, an independent investigation raised questions, a regulator alert was issued.

Editorial judgement is separate from the facts. We may conclude that a platform does not suit conservative investors or that we stay out ourselves, and we state that plainly, but the facts underlying that conclusion are verifiable and sourced.

What we never write

We never write flat guaranteed or risk-free claims. The phrase capital at risk appears on every page that discusses money. We never write that a compensation scheme covers borrower defaults because no scheme does. We never hide the Maclear trade-off between Swiss jurisdiction and the absence of an EU-style protection fund.

We do not give personal advice in the form you should invest in X. We use profiles instead: investors who care about A usually pick B, or platform X suits people who prioritise C over D.

We do not invent people. There are no staff names, no named testimonials, no claimed portfolio of our own with real money in it. A model portfolio in a guide is labelled as a simulation.

Corrections and how to flag an error

If you find a factual error on this site, flag it through the contact page. Include the page URL, the claim you believe is wrong and a link to a verifiable source for the correct information.

We check the source and update the page within five working days if the error is confirmed. The date of record shown on the page is updated to reflect the correction. We do not publish a separate corrections log because most corrections are simple data updates as platforms publish new figures.

Corrections to regulatory status, compensation limits or ownership structure are prioritised and updated within 24 hours where verified.