Funding Circle Broadens Loan Choice For SMBs

Online small business lending platform Funding Circle is launching a new feature for U.S. small businesses to be able to choose from three approved loan options.

Dubbed Small Business Choice, the new offering from Funding Circle U.S. will connect a small to medium-sized business (SMB) loan applicant to three approved loan offerings with different interest rates and term loans. Funding Circle said the feature aims to provide SMBs with greater choice in those terms and rates.

“At Funding Circle, we are committed to the best customer experience, which includes creating flexibility for our borrowers,” said Funding Circle U.S. Managing Director Bernardo Martinez. “Traditionally, deciding on what loan terms are best can be hard for small business owners, but Small Business Choice offers a straightforward way to pick the right loan for them.”

All three loans presented are underwritten by Funding Circle, with offerings presented over the phone and in emails to clearly articulate contract terms, interest rates, monthly payments and total loan amounts.

In October, Funding Circle’s U.K. operations moved to quell concerns over investors’ inability to withdraw funds. Reports in the Financial Times at the time said the company sent a letter to investors assuring the company was “a robust, well-capitalized business” and that it wanted “to give you some reassurance that we are focused” to address the issue.

Funding Circle U.K. noted that a lack of demand on the secondary market for small business loan products means it will likely continue to take longer for sales to finalize.

In August, its U.K. operations posted greater losses for its earnings report of the six months to June 30, although analysts noted that wider losses were expected amid lower demand for small business loans in the market. At the time, the company noted “some deterioration” in its high-risk loan portfolio “driven by a deterioration in the consumer credit environment since 2016, which affects smaller and younger companies, and in response we tightened our risk criteria for higher risk band loans.”