The New Route to Obtain a Business Loan
Small firms in the UK have long been under the stranglehold of the major banks. There’s now a new alternative for business loans called Funding Circle. Funding Circle’s business loans are quicker and cheaper than bank loans.
Through Funding Circle people lend to businesses, sidestepping the banks. Investors build a portfolio of businesses to maximise their return and manage their risk. Each lender provides a small proportion of the overall loan that each business requires and with many investors competing to lend to them enterprises are able to borrow at a better rate. As there is no bank involved both sides achieve a better deal.
Once registered on the Funding Circle website lenders place bids compromising of an interest rate and amount to small businesses they want to lend to. The lowest interest rate offers ‘win’ the right to be a part of the loan in a reverse auction. People can lend quickly and easily to a wide variety of different businesses using an autobid tool, which lends their funds according to their chosen criteria or, alternatively, they can hand-pick the individual enterprises to whom they want to lend. The whole process is managed through Funding Circle’s technology and unseen to the borrower who makes one payment each month to Funding Circle who then disperse the money back to lenders.
Firms are credit checked and Funding Circle underwriters assess the businesses in the same way a bank does to ensure only good quality companies are allowed into the platform. From application to receiving a loan it takes two weeks versus eight weeks at the bank, on average. The loans currently available are up to GBP 50,000 and soon increasing to GBP 100,000.
With the new BBA figures showing business finance from banks is in decline Funding Circle is the much needed alternative for business finance.
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