Fintech lenders call on UK government to boost SME credit access #

A group of fintech lenders including Funding Circle have written an open letter to the government, urging them to improve small businesses’ access to finance.

The letter was signed by the Federation of Small Businesses. The fintech lenders that also co-signed the letter are Codat, Atom Bank, Funding Circle, Iwoca, Allica Bank, SPRK Capital, Recognise Bank, Plaid, Player, OakNOrth, Wiserfunding and TrueLayer.

They are urging the UK government to upscale small businesses’ access to funding, thus protecting the growth prospects of the country. Siding with that, the letter calls to pass the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill and consult with the industry to find ways to improve SME’s access to credit with technology. The business group and lenders believe that more has to be done to close the £22bn funding gap for smaller businesses.

The letter informed about the barriers between lenders and up to date, accurate data which leads to less informed decision making and more complex and time consuming application process for SMEs.

The letter suggests the implementation of an “SME Funding Passport”, which should contain “consented standardised and easy shareable” financial data for underwriting. According to the letter this will ensure a higher likelihood of success for SME, as well as decrease application processing time resulting in more competitive rates and more loans the SMEs could service.