CRIF partners with iwoca ‘to make instant finance a reality’ for SMEs

A new embedded finance partnership between fintech business lender iwoca and credit information provider CRIF will enable SMEs to get instant decisions on lending applications, powered by Open Banking.

By integrating CRIF’s Credit Passport service, which provides SMEs with access to an Open Banking-powered credit profile, into iwoca’s own services and lending platform, SMEs will receive instant decisions on business loans up to £25,000 and will receive a decision within 24 hours for loans up to £500,000.

The new service is available to all SMEs with a free Credit Passport account.

Through the partnership, SMEs that use the free Credit Passport service will be able to apply “in just one minute” for an iwoca loan directly from their account and their application will be pre-populated with all the information from their credit profile.

CRIF’s Sara Costantini

Sara Costantini, regional director for UK and Ireland at CRIF, said that small business owners deserve a better service when they apply for funding, given that the economic uncertainty is “exacerbating the already significant challenges with securing finance”.

SMEs that use the free Credit Passport service will be able to apply “in just one minute” for an iwoca loan directly from their account and their application will be pre-populated with all the information from their credit profile.

According to iwoca’s latest SME Expert Index data, 82% of SME finance brokers agree that major banks have reduced their appetite to fund SMEs.

“Our partnership with iwoca allows us to embed finance into our Credit Passport offering to provide instant lending,” she added.

“We’re also reducing uncertainty for businesses over funding decisions, while making the process smoother and faster. This way, they can focus on what really matters – running and growing their business.”

Recent figures published by CRIF revealed that its Credit Passport SME customers increasingly want to demonstrate their financial health to lenders.

Harry Cranfield, partner channel manager at iwoca, said that businesses should feel “empowered, not hindered” when it comes to finance.

“For too long, the UK’s smallest businesses have struggled to access the finance that larger businesses take for granted. The current lending market poses big challenges to SMEs trying to find capital during an economic downturn,” Cranfield said.

“As banks retrench – and narrow their financing options for small businesses – it’s become all the more important that alternative lenders can step in.

“Our partnership with CRIF will help us make instant finance a reality for thousands of SMEs, offering them a quicker, more transparent and reliable way to apply for and secure lending.”