FR: How important do you think the online experience is for brokers? Do you think this is gaining significance in the industry?
Absolutely. With most small business owners working around the clock, more and more importance has been placed on the ability to make swift and efficient credit decisions. An online application and decision process is without question the quickest and most effective way of getting funds to small businesses when they need them. For example if a broker applies to a traditional lender or even a peer to peer lender they will generally have to wait at the very least a week for the paperwork to be processed and a decision to be passed on and made by the relevant person within the organisation.
Our completely online process allows brokers to apply for their client, receive a decision and, if successful, their commission within an hour.
FR: Tell us more about your technology platform and how the automated lending model works.
Our lending platform is fully automated, linking directly to thousands of business data points, such as cloud based accounting services, HMRC tax reports and business bank accounts, to make real-time lending decisions on small business loans of up to £120,000 for 1-24 months.
Because our technology does all the legwork, our application process only takes around 10 minutes to complete, we automatically collect all the data in nano-seconds and lending decisions are usually made instantly or within one hour of an application being submitted. If approved, money is then paid into an account within minutes.
FR: How can digital platforms transform the business lending space?
Traditional lenders simply aren’t suited to small business’ needs for flexible and fast working capital. Because of their lengthy approach to underwriting loans, high manual processing costs and a time-consuming requirement for physical documents, it’s not commercially viable for banks to underwrite small business loans under £150,000 which is why many small business applicants are turned away.
A business is only able to grow when it has access to the right resources. In an independent survey we conducted, 42% of small business decision makers said a lack of working capital was detrimental to business growth. A quarter (26%) agreed their growth has been restricted due to lack of access to cash from traditional lenders or an unwillingness to lend.
As a small business ourselves we know first-hand that time and money are the two most common barriers to growth. Our philosophy from the start has always been to use technology to better serve business customers looking for funding to supplement cashflow or aid growth. Our automated lending platform allows us to do that.
FR: What challenges do you think brokers are facing when it comes to helping their SME clients?
The biggest challenge for brokers – and businesses – is understanding all of the products on the market. There’s been a huge number of new entrants in the alternative finance space over the past five years, so working out which option is best for each client is a huge challenge. We want to work with industry bodies, government and our peers to ensure that businesses – and brokers – are fully informed on all the options out there.
FR: If you could read one news headline about financial services, what would it be?
‘Alternative lending becomes the norm for small business funding’
