Santander UK launches quick-fire loans for small businesses

Santander UK has joined forces with an online lender to provide small businesses with quick-fire funding.

The bank has teamed up with Kabbage, a US fintech company in which Santander invests, to speed up the underwriting process so that firms can potentially access working capital of up to £100,000 online on the same day. The launch of the service over the next two months is the first time a major high street bank in Britain has offered smaller companies swift access to funding, which usually takes 2-12 weeks. The bank plans to launch the service today at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen. Nathan Bostock, head of Santander UK, said: 'With SMEs comprising 99% of the UK private sector, having fast and secure access to funds would ensure they can continue to make an important contribution to the UK economy. Our collaboration with Kabbage aims to provide UK businesses with the ability to draw down funds as and when required, whether this be covering a short-term funding need or enabling them to seize growth opportunities as they arise.' Kabbage speeds up lending decisions using risk scoring determined by Santander, with the fintech company's own information and external sources of data, including social media.

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