Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Forward Advances, the merchant cash advance provider, wants to provide £250m worth of cash to small businesses in the e-commerce space by 2023.
The lender, which set up in April 2020, is one of a new wave of small business funders base lending decisions based how much you are selling each month. In recent months Clearbanc and eBay have both launched their own versions of what’s known as merchant cash advance in Britain, while PayPal has been offering it for some time.
By tying its technology to your bank data, accounting software or social media ad accounts, a lender has a real-time view of your monthly income. This means repayments fluctuate as a percentage of income, rather than being a fixed amount each month like a bank.
>See also: One third of small businesses turn to Bank of Mum and Dad
Although well-established in America and in Sweden, where the concept originated, merchant cash advances are still a relatively new concept in Britain.
Hasam Silva, managing director of Forward Advances, said: “In the US merchant cash advance or revenue-based financing is a well-understood product but, in the UK, less so. Half of all founders I spoke to last
Tag Archive for SME lending
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Forward Advances wants to lend £250m to small businesses by 2023
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Forward Advances, the merchant cash advance provider, wants to provide £250m worth of cash to small businesses in the e-commerce space by 2023.
The lender, which set up in April 2020, is one of a new wave of small business funders base lending decisions based how much you are selling each month. In recent months Clearbanc and eBay have both launched their own versions of what’s known as merchant cash advance in Britain, while PayPal has been offering it for some time.
By tying its technology to your bank data, accounting software or social media ad accounts, a lender has a real-time view of your monthly income. This means repayments fluctuate as a percentage of income, rather than being a fixed amount each month like a bank.
>See also: One third of small businesses turn to Bank of Mum and Dad
Although well-established in America and in Sweden, where the concept originated, merchant cash advances are still a relatively new concept in Britain.
Hasam Silva, managing director of Forward Advances, said: “In the US merchant cash advance or revenue-based financing is a well-understood product but, in the UK, less so. Half of all founders I spoke to last
Hot Business News Today
Small business banking dispute service costs £23m to set up
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS), the voluntary ombudsman set up to handle any banking dispute between small businesses and high-street banks, has cost £23m to establish.
Seven high-street banks have split the £23m setting-up cost of the banking dispute service between them, so no taxpayer money was involved.
But BBRS has yet to pay out damages to any small business since its launch was delayed from November until mid-February.
>See also: Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
The BBRS said that it hopes to settle its first disputes between wronged small business borrowers and banks by the summer.
About 500 disputes were pre-registered with the BBRS before its mid-February launch, and it has 160 “live” cases going through at the moment, plus another 48 new cases register since February 14.
The BBRS was set up after thousands of companies were damaged by banking scandals. It gives small businesses an independent view on banking disputes. It is funded by seven banks but is independent of them.
Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking, described the setting-up costs to The Times as “eye-watering”.
For example, £9.2m was spent on “third-party delivery costs” to get
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Small businesses have average of just £9,000 left from Bounce Back Loan
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses have an average of just over £9,000 left from any Bounce Back Loan they took out to save their struggling firms.
Over a million small businesses have taken out the state-backed emergency loans and the majority expect what’s left of the cash to run out by the end of September.
And nearly two thirds of SMEs (63 per cent) surveyed that have taken out Bounce Back Loans were unaware that the deadline for applying for the larger Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is also the end of this month.
>See also: Where to find your £1,000 small business lockdown grant
Of the 1.2m small businesses that have taken out Bounce Back Loans, 39 per cent used the cash to pay suppliers and 29 per cent used the £50,000 maximum loan available to set up e-commerce stores and online shopping channels.
According to a MarketFinance survey, most SMEs (76 per cent) would be keen on having a CBILS facility “on ice” in case they need it later in the year in anticipation of larger bills, taxes due towards the end of the year.
>See also: Boris must ‘act now’ to save businesses from going under
Over three quarters of small
Hot Business News Today
Small businesses have average of just £9,000 left from Bounce Back Loan
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses have an average of just over £9,000 left from any Bounce Back Loan they took out to save their struggling firms.
Over a million small businesses have taken out the state-backed emergency loans and the majority expect what’s left of the cash to run out by the end of September.
And nearly two thirds of SMEs (63 per cent) surveyed that have taken out Bounce Back Loans were unaware that the deadline for applying for the larger Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is also the end of this month.
>See also: Where to find your £1,000 small business lockdown grant
Of the 1.2m small businesses that have taken out Bounce Back Loans, 39 per cent used the cash to pay suppliers and 29 per cent used the £50,000 maximum loan available to set up e-commerce stores and online shopping channels.
According to a MarketFinance survey, most SMEs (76 per cent) would be keen on having a CBILS facility “on ice” in case they need it later in the year in anticipation of larger bills, taxes due towards the end of the year.
>See also: Boris must ‘act now’ to save businesses from going under
Over three quarters of small
Hot Business News Today
Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses that feel they have been unfairly treated by the banks will have somewhere new to turn to from November.
Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) will open its doors to complaints from unhappy business banking customers from mid-November.
The dispute resolution service will adjudicate in arguments between banks and unhappy SME borrowers and means that businesses do not have to resort to expensive and risky litigation.
>See also: Nearly half of small businesses do not intend to repay government loans
However, the Business Banking Resolution Service will only be open to larger SMEs with turnover in excess of £6.5m a year and with assets of £7.5m on their books.
Microbusiness complaints will continue to be handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), particularly any disputes over bounce back loans.
BBRS has come into existence following widely publicised unhappiness from SMEs about how they were treated after the 2008 financial crisis, often with loans being unfairly called in without warning.
Following pressure from MPs, especially the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG), a working group with representatives from the SME Alliance, Federation of Small Business and others, set out plans for an impartial ombudsman.
>See also: Half of small
Hot Business News Today
Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses that feel they have been unfairly treated by the banks will have somewhere new to turn to from November.
Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) will open its doors to complaints from unhappy business banking customers from mid-November.
The dispute resolution service will adjudicate in arguments between banks and unhappy SME borrowers and means that businesses do not have to resort to expensive and risky litigation.
>See also: Nearly half of small businesses do not intend to repay government loans
However, the Business Banking Resolution Service will only be open to larger SMEs with turnover in excess of £6.5m a year and with assets of £7.5m on their books.
Microbusiness complaints will continue to be handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), particularly any disputes over bounce back loans.
BBRS has come into existence following widely publicised unhappiness from SMEs about how they were treated after the 2008 financial crisis, often with loans being unfairly called in without warning.
Following pressure from MPs, especially the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG), a working group with representatives from the SME Alliance, Federation of Small Business and others, set out plans for an impartial ombudsman.
>See also: Half of small
Hot Business News Today
B-North plans to lend £1bn to small businesses within four years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
B-North, the Manchester-based small business lender, plans to lend over £1bn to small businesses within its first four years.
The lender, which hopes to secure a provisional banking licence within weeks, will rebrand as Bank North once the licence comes through.
Initially, B-North aims to lend about £50m as its systems are tested under the scrutiny of the banking regulator.
Filling the gap
B-North sees itself as filling the gap for small business lending as the Big Four banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest – have centralised lending decisions, concentrating on large firms, making it difficult for them to get into the intricacies of each small business.
At first, B-North will offer secured loans of between £500,000 and £5 million.
The service plans to start in Manchester but eventually it expects to have eight regional “lending pods”, each effectively a small bank on its own.
Its founders include Jonathan Thompson, a former Santander banker who will be its chief executive, and chairman Ron Emerson, who was founding chairman of the British Business Bank.
B-North says that it will offer the fast, technology-driven credit decisions of a fintech — it claims that it will be up to 10 times faster than a
Hot Business News Today
Treasury pushes to double bounce back loan repayment period to 10 years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is pushing for the bounce back loan repayment period to be doubled from five years to 10 years.
Both Government and banks that have jointly lent £33bn through the bounce back scheme are afraid of the looming wave of nonrepayment.
More than a million small companies have borrowed under the bounce back scheme, which offers loans of up to £50,000 and are covered by a 100-per-cent state guarantee.
The loans were launched in May after an outcry about the criteria attached to the coronavirus business interruption loans, which made it difficult for small businesses to qualify.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £53bn will eventually be handed to small firms in bounce back loans, with 40 per cent likely to default. This equates to costing the taxpayer £16bn in bad loans.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Bounce back loan repayment
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them. Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either bounce back loans or coronavirus business interruption loans said they do not believe the Government will chase the
Hot Business News Today
Treasury pushes to double bounce back loan repayment period to 10 years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is pushing for the bounce back loan repayment period to be doubled from five years to 10 years.
Both Government and banks that have jointly lent £33bn through the bounce back scheme are afraid of the looming wave of nonrepayment.
More than a million small companies have borrowed under the bounce back scheme, which offers loans of up to £50,000 and are covered by a 100-per-cent state guarantee.
The loans were launched in May after an outcry about the criteria attached to the coronavirus business interruption loans, which made it difficult for small businesses to qualify.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £53bn will eventually be handed to small firms in bounce back loans, with 40 per cent likely to default. This equates to costing the taxpayer £16bn in bad loans.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Bounce back loan repayment
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them. Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either bounce back loans or coronavirus business interruption loans said they do not believe the Government will chase the