Coronavirus fintech taskforce created to help lenders support SMEs
Four fintech firms have partnered to create a fintech taskforce, to provide a turn-key loan origination and underwriting platform for business lenders during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The four firms comprise Trade Ledger, a digital lending platform; Wiserfunding, a digital small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) credit scoring platform; Nimbla, a trade credit insurance provider; and NorthRow, a remote client onboarding platform.
Read more: Bank of England urged to channel emergency funds through P2P lenders
The new platform allows banks, alternative lenders and private debt lenders to virtually and digitally deploy funds to businesses during the pandemic.
It will be able to support any type of term loans, invoice finance and asset finance and aims to help lenders to deploy specialist loans of over £500,000 within days as opposed to weeks.
It is hoped that the new platform could form the basis of a consortium that would intermediate between multiple lenders – including private funds and the British Business Bank – and the multitude of SMEs seeking lending.
“With the Covid-19 outbreak putting immense financial pressure on global supply chains, now more than ever, SMEs need reliable cash flow if they are to stay in business,” said Martin McCann, chief executive at Trade Ledger.
“On average, it takes around 90 days for lenders in this sector to onboard new customers and establish new credit lines.
“The government’s capital injection is a massive boost to an underserved market at an extreme time of need but its impact will be lost if lenders aren’t able to get these loans to their customers quickly.”
Read more: Two thirds of businesses think government funds won’t reach them in time
“We are proud to support such an important initiative at this critical time,” said Gabriele Sabato, chief executive at Wiserfunding.
“Unlocking funds that would not be available without our support is our priority.
“Our risk management technology will help lenders to make the right choices and deploy funds more effectively, while at the same time making sure that SMEs are aware of the impact of the additional debt on their risk profile.
“We are convinced that Tradeledger, Nimbla & Northrow are the best partners to ensure the success of this initiative and maximise the value for SMEs.”
Read more: 47pc of SMEs struggled with cashflow even before coronavirus crisis
