Funding Circle grows collections team during pandemic
Funding Circle’s collections and recoveries team is now bigger than it was before the pandemic to deal with an increase in borrowers requesting payment plans.
The peer-to-peer business lender said its team is now 80-strong, as it recognised it would need to train and reassign staff to deal with increased contact from borrowers struggling to repay loans.
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“When the lockdown was announced in late March, we experienced an increase in borrowers getting in contact to ask for payment plans,” the platform said in an update to investors.
“These were typically low risk borrowers that had never missed a payment before, and were very concerned with preserving cash at a time of high uncertainty.
“To protect investor returns, we moved quickly to introduce a range of measures to support these businesses through this difficult period.”
Funding Circle said it typically finds out if a direct debit has failed three days before the payment date so can get in touch with a borrower.
The platform said borrowers have been offered payment plans, additional flexibility and also access to emergency lending schemes through bounce back loans and coronavirus business interruption loans.
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