Commerzbank launches peer-to-peer lending platform for SMEs, Main Funders
Commerzbank says it’s the first major German bank to develop a peer-to-peer lending platform
Commerzbank says it’s the first major bank in Germany to develop this type of digital financing marketplace. Main Funders is aimed at SMEs.
Main Funders enables clients of Commerzbank’s Mittelstandsbank (MSB) business division (which caters for SMEs) to present concrete investment projects to potential investors and secure financing.
The financing volumes are between €200,000 and €10 million.
Michael Kotzbauer, divisional board member, corporate banking at Commerzbank, says Main Funders is “an important basis in the framework of the bank’s digitalisation strategy”.
He explains the rationale for the peer-to-peer lending platform: “High investment requirements contrast with a high level of liquidity as a consequence of the ongoing low interest rates for deposits – now more than ever. This leads to a fresh need for additional offerings to conventional financing and investment business. We are addressing these with Main Funders.”
Birgit Storz, divisional head, segment management and development for MSB, adds that the new venture combines the best of both worlds – “the competencies and long-standing experience of an established bank with those of an agile and innovative start-up”.
The development of Main Funders was done with the help of Commerzbank’s Main Incubator, of which Storz is a founder director. Main Incubator supports fintech start-ups and entrepreneurs.
