Nucleus to offer interest-only term loans under recovery loan scheme
Nucleus Commercial Finance has been accredited to the recovery loan scheme (RLS) and will become the first approved lender to offer interest-only term loans.
Under the scheme, Nucleus will provide loans from £30,000 to £10m, or £30m per group, for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking financial support as a result of the pandemic. RLS term loans will be available across both secured and unsecured finance options.
Nucleus said that businesses will make interest payments over the first year of their six-year RLS loan, rather than repaying both interest and principal.
The lender said that this will help businesses as they will have significantly lower repayments over the first 12 months, while they recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nucleus was previously accredited for the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and processed over 12,000 applications, lending £438m to SMEs under the scheme last year.
Read more: Calls for more support for alternative lenders following CBILS success
Read more: Alternative lenders accredited for recovery loan scheme
“We’re delighted to have been accredited under the RLS, and pleased to be the first lender to offer interest-only on all RLS loans,” said Chirag Shah (pictured), chief executive of Nucleus Commercial Finance.
“This is a significant development for SMEs and the broker community as businesses will be repaying less over the first year of their six-year loan. This means they can use the financial support on their priorities and to future proof their business.
“Underpinning our RLS offering is our industry-leading technology, which enables us to process applications and deliver funds to businesses within hours.
“This allowed us to play a major role in CBILS, demonstrating the role fintech lenders play at a time when traditional banks and other alternative lenders were struggling to keep up.
“As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, we look forward to supporting businesses on the road to recovery. SMEs are the backbone of the economy and by providing continued access to finance we can not only help them achieve future growth but bolster our economy too.”
Read more: Nucleus hires business development manager for London and South East
After accrediting Nucleus to the RLS today and BLG and InterBay Asset Finance yesterday, the British Business Bank has now approved 67 lenders to the scheme according to its website.
