Funding Circle and Atom bank announce £300m lending partnership

Funding Circle and Atom bank announce £300m lending partnership

Funding Circle, the UK’s largest small business loan platform, and Atom, the UK’s first app-based bank, today announce a lending partnership that will provide £300m of new funding to small businesses. With £350m already lent through the Funding Circle platform, this latest commitment brings Atom’s total lending with Funding Circle to £650m.

Atom will harness Funding Circle’s technology and distribution platform to deploy new funding to ~4,000* UK small businesses, continuing Atom’s support for UK SMEs.

Ten years of R&D by Funding Circle has created powerful machine learning models that will provide Atom with a highly efficient and cost-effective mechanism to deploy capital to the real economy.

Funding Circle’s market-leading and unparalleled Instant Decision Lending technology enables small businesses to apply for finance in an average of six minutes, with lending decisions in just nine seconds. This seamless functionality is helping Atom provide small businesses with fast and simple access to finance, allowing them to grow and power the economic recovery.

This lending partnership will support SMEs through Funding Circle’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) product and existing loan product. Atom will lend through the platform alongside a wide range of investors, including banks, asset management companies, insurance companies, government-backed entities, individuals and funds.

Lisa Jacobs, Europe Managing Director of Funding Circle, said: “We are excited that Atom bank has strengthened its commitment to supporting small businesses through our technology platform. Alongside a wide range of investors, it’s great to see Funding Circle’s machine learning and distribution capabilities being leveraged as a key solution towards increasing the flow of funding to the real economy, powering the economic recovery.”

Edward Twiddy, Chief Customer Officer at Atom bank, said: “Ever since we started lending to UK SMEs in 2016 we have been committed to supporting business owners, most recently as a leading lender of broker-led secured loans via CBILS. We’re excited to be partnering with Funding Circle, leveraging their market-leading tech to continue our support for British Businesses. By the turn of this year we will have provided over £1bn of lending to UK SMEs alongside what is already £3bn of mortgage lending, making good on our promise to be the bank for those wanting to grow their own business and own their own home.”

Both FinTechs have played significant roles supporting SMEs during Covid-19, as accredited lenders under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Funding Circle was the third largest provider,** with Atom’s secured lending model also market leading. Both are now accredited and open for RLS loan applications. In 2020, lending through the platform is estimated to have contributed £10bn to global GDP and supported 135,000 jobs.***

*An average loan size of £80,000 will allow 3,750 SMEs to access finance. **As of 12 February 2021. Based on value of loans approved. ***Research by Oxford Economics (March 2021): Supporting SMEs through the crisis and recovery: Funding Circle’s 2020 impact, March 2021