British Business Bank approves more lenders to government loan schemes
The British Business Bank has approved more lenders to deliver the government’s emergency loan schemes, which support businesses during Covid-19.
The state development bank has approved one new lender for accreditation to the bounce back loan scheme (BBLS), and six new lenders to deliver the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS).
Investec will join the other 20 BBLS lenders that have been accredited to the scheme since it opened last month. BBLS offers loans up to £50,000 backed by a 100 per cent government guarantee.
CBILS provides loans of up to £250,000 without personal guarantees to small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The new CBILS lenders comprise 4Syte, Asset Finance Partners, JCB Finance, Merchant Money, Sonovate and United Trust Bank.
Following their approval, each lender will be putting in place the operations required to start lending under the scheme and will soon confirm the dates from which they will be ready to start receiving applications.
Like the previous week, no new P2P lending platforms were approved for government schemes this time.
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“Our accredited lenders continue to see high levels of demand for Covid-19 business loan schemes,” said Keith Morgan, chief executive of the British Business Bank.
“Accrediting these additional finance providers means further support for smaller business customers and continues the British Business Bank’s long-term objective to offer more diverse sources of finance to smaller businesses.”
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According to the latest figures from The Treasury, £38.2bn has been delivered to 910,000 businesses through CBILS, BBLS and the coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme.
The British Business Bank said the accelerated accreditation process it has put in place for the coronavirus loan schemes means it has been able to more than double the number of CBILS lenders since the scheme’s launch, increasing the number from 41 to 92.
The bank added that it continues to review applications from a wide range of lender types.
