Iwoca launches lending platform to help banks and fintechs tap UK SMEs
Iwoca has launched a new lending platform which it claims will help two million British small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by 2023.
The lender says it wants to “unify fintechs and banks”
The OpenLending platform has already bagged UK challenger Monese as a partner, and SME software provider Xero is also set to join the project later this year.
Xero is already working with iwoca on “a customised finance solution” set to be released in early 2021.
OpenLending currently has 14 partners in total, which use it to customise access to funds for their customers. Its creation comes off the back of iwoca’s £10 million Banking Competition Remedies (BCR) grant win.
The lender says it wants to “unify fintechs and banks” by providing micro businesses with “fast and digital access to finance at a crucial time”.
Read more: Swift’s ISO 20022 migration set back a year to November 2022
Both fintechs and incumbent banks can use the platform, which arrives at a time when banks and the government have put aside hundreds of billions to help British businesses avoid total collapse as the coronavirus continues to disrupt the economy.
“OpenLending is a fully digital platform that established banks can use to get finance to small businesses within minutes, opposed to weeks or even months,” says iwoca’s CEO and co-founder Christoph Rieche.
“Digital access to finance is particularly valuable now where COVID-19 may lead to severe disruption of bank branch networks and call centres, reducing their ability to provide the service level that they aim for under normal circumstances.”
Iwoca’s OpenLending API has also already linked up with UK SME fintech tide, UK business lender FundingOptions, and business loan market FundingXchange.
Read next: Expense management start-up Payhawk lands $3.3m seed capital
