Fintech business lender MarketFinance has been given the green light by the British Business Bank to operationally start lending business loans and invoice finance as a lender under the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
CBILS is designed to support the continued provision of finance to UK smaller businesses (SMEs) during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is intended that these finance facilities will help SMES who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cash flow. From today, businesses can immediately apply for a CBILS loan or invoice finance facility through MarketFinance via its website here.
Business loans
Under the CBILS, the first 12 months of interest on the loan and any arrangement fees will be paid by the UK Government as a Business Interruption Payment. This means smaller businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments. No personal guarantees will be required, so borrowers and guarantors will not have to put up their principal private residence as security. SMEs can apply for a MarketFinance CBILS term loan (up to 3 years) between £50,001 and £150,000.
Invoice finance
Businesses looking for cash flow or working capital can get finance on their outstanding invoices (with long payment terms, where they are waiting to be paid on work completed). As with business loans, there will be no arrangement fees or interest charged. SMEs with an annual turnover of at least £100,000 can apply for a MarketFinance CBILS invoice finance facility between £50,0001 and £5m.
Anil Stocker, CEO at MarketFinance, commented: “CBILS funding is a vital source of finance for businesses looking to kick start their recovery post lock down. We’re delighted to operationally launch our CBILS programme for these businesses. Less than £9b has been advanced to just 46,000 businesses. By our estimation, there is a £20b lending opportunity with CBILS funding. We aim to get more of this finance out to businesses in need across the country.”
“Businesses are looking to trade their way out of this crisis and CBILS allows them to unlock funding they might not have found otherwise. Here at MarketFinance, our technology and risk underwriting platform is at the heart of what we do. We’ve been processing large volumes of applications and delivering rapid funding decisions since we launched in 2011, and we’re going to use this foundation to get as much funding out to businesses in this crucial time.” adds Anil stocker.