Iwoca, the alternative business loan platform for SMEs, has raised £100 million to directly fund UK businesses applying for the ‘Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme’ (CBILS).
Launched in March by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of the HM Treasury ‘Covid business support programme’, the CBILS has been established to provide direct support for small-to-medium UK businesses disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
As a proven SME lender, the Treasury accredited Iwoca to provide CBILS relief through its platform, bolstering access and resources for the scheme.
Becoming a CBILS provider, Iwoca has urged UK banks and Fintechs to collaborate in streamlining the scheme’s business application and review processes – as SMEs are being left behind by the huge ‘operational pressures on banks’ processing over 1-million scheme applications.
Iwoca analysis of Treasury data reveals the growing gap between the number of CBILS applications and approvals has grown every week since the launch of CBILS, rising from 40,560 in mid-May to 58,707.
Demand for CBILS has remained consistent over this period, with an average of 3,481 new weekly applications – one every three minutes
Christoph Rieche, Co-Founder and CEO of Iwoca has written to the leadership of the UK’s largest banks and lenders, urging for applicants to be referred to smaller platforms such as Iwoca.
Of utmost concern, Rieche underlined that post-furlough direct support must be provided to an estimated 790,000 small businesses who will seek around £250,000 in CBILS support – a figure that cannot be maintained by current structures.
Rieche said: “We want to give small businesses the best chance of finding the support they so clearly need, which means the banks must work with us.
“It’s not acceptable that thousands of the businesses applying for CBILS are left hanging for weeks or even months without getting a decision from their bank. As an industry, we have a joint responsibility in supporting this effort so that SMEs can access finance fast to survive and thrive.”
