P2P lenders sign up to new SME finance platform
PEER-TO-PEER lenders are among the 100 finance providers already signed up to FinancemyBusinessonline, a new platform to help small businesses find funding.
The platform, which launched yesterday, was founded by Adam Tyler (pictured), former chief executive of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers.
Read more: NACFB chief Adam Tyler to step down after 11 years
Tyler will use his experience and contacts within the lending, broker and small business markets to provide a great new funding solution, the platform said.
Over the coming months, FinancemyBusinessonline is planning to sign up even more lenders and provide easier access to regulated commercial finance brokers.
Tyler told Peer-to-Peer Finance News via email that P2P platforms are among the near-100 lenders already registered on the website.
Read more: Adam Tyler: What we can learn from China’s flawed P2P sector
“For all of those that know me, they are aware of how passionate I am about raising the awareness of the range of finance that is available to all small business owners and how they need to be directed to the many ways in which it can be accessed quite easily,” said Tyler.
“I have already taken this finance platform to MPs in Westminster in my bid to continue to highlight the opportunities that exist for small business owners. The first SME group to have direct access to the site will go live in early February and all of those providing finance to SMEs whether directly or through authorised brokers will begin to benefit soon.”
The government has been endeavouring to improve SMEs’ access to finance. Its long-awaited bank referral scheme finally launched last November, giving alternative lenders more access to small businesses looking for loans.
Research cited by the Treasury at the time showed that 71 per cent of businesses seeking finance only ask one lender and many of those give up on investment if they get rejected.
In 2015, 324,000 small- and medium-sized businesses sought a loan or overdraft, but 26 per cent of them were initially declined by their bank and only three per cent of those declined were referred to other sources of finance.
Read more: Government referral scheme faces competition from NatWest
Read more: SME appetite for borrowing rises
