Banks are catching on to the fact that they’re losing a ton of business to small business fintech companies. Many will remember that Iwoca pioneered these loans in the UK and eventually were joined by the likes of PayPal and Amazon who also now can process a loan and have the cash in your account in minutes.
Now RBS are unveiling a platform on which they say they will be able to process small business loans of up to £35,000 in as little as three minutes, compared to anything up to a month which it’s taken in the past. They say that these days they have so much data about their clients they can let small businesses go online and do much of the loan application activity themselves.
Initially, it will take up to 24 hours for the funds to hit your bank account, but by the end of the year the process will be instantaneous and the second you’re approved the funds will be winging their way into your account.
RBS also have a bit of a problem, back in the height of the banking crisis, their Williams & Glyn mortgage unit almost toppled the bank. They’ve been trying to flog it for a decade and still not found a buyer willing to take on the balance sheet. Appearing to be stuck with the flailing mortgage unit, RBS are now aiming to turn it into a fintech operation offering loans to small businesses. It would appear that small business loans are high on the RBS agenda so if you’re looking for some quick and easy finance they could be worth considering.
RBS may also roll out the same technology to larger firms with loans of up to £100,000 in the future.
2 Responses
Ha, did wonder how long it would be before the banks cottoned on to Iwoca and Paypal etc, they won’t like someone else lending even though they have refused point blank to lend to most small businesses.
To be fair, the Working Capital industry could do with a shake-up, the interest rates are eye watering (if you can even work them out….)