Business finance marketplace Funding Options will soon be part of Starling Bank’s in-app marketplace for small businesses. Funding Options helps small businesses source alternative funding options from as little as £1,000 up to £10 million.
“We are excited that through this partnership we will be able to offer small businesses the efficiency, flexibility, support and security to help them thrive,” noted Starling Bank Chief Platform Officer Megan Caywood. “This is what banking should be about, and this is why Starling was founded – to put financial control back into the hands of businesses and consumers.”
The partnership with Starling Bank, the mobile-only bank, will mean small business customers may access funding from the convenience of their smartphone, reportedly free of charge.
“Every year millions of small businesses find themselves unable to access funding from the mainstream lenders. With small businesses playing such an important role in the economy, we need to have somewhere for these firms to turn to and that is why we exist,” indicated Funding Options Managing Director Ryan Edwards-Pritchard. “Our mission is to help small businesses, like your local bike shop or your independent hairdresser, to walk tall. This partnership with Starling will help us support thousands more businesses to achieve their goals, whether they’re looking to grow or just wanting to get back in the black.”
It’s been an active few month for Starling. Last week Starling Bank launched its Marketplace app, including the launch of accounting software platform Xero to enable the bank’s 20,000 business banking customers to automatically integrate their banking transactions into the cloud accounting platform. Earlier in October, the digital only challenger bank expanded its “Banking-as-a-Service” and Payment Services offer.
Funding Options works with over 50 lenders to help small businesses access alternative forms of finance while currently helping firms access tens of millions of pounds in funding every month.
“Small businesses have always been the backbone of the UK economy, but too often hit a wall with the big banks. We want to change this, and partnerships with businesses like Funding Options are another big step in helping small businesses manage their finances,” added Caywood.
The company said that this partnership will enable Funding Options to support more SMEs to access the right loan for their situation.