Funding Circle, an online lender for SMEs, has received full authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Funding Circle is now queued up to offer the IFISA – an event that is expected to fuel platform growth even further. The FCA has struggled to complete full authorisation of the larger P2P platforms due to the scrutiny involved in the process.
Simultaneously, a company representative said that Funding Circle was now the largest UK lending platform having overtaken Zopa last week in terms of total lending.
Launched in 2010, Funding Circle allows people and other institutions to lend to small businesses, offering investors attractive and stable returns. Funding Circle has become a viable option supporting UK SMEs in their need for growth capital. Funding Circle states that investors have earned an average 6.5% per year and £116 million of net interest over the last seven years.
James Meekings, UK Managing Director and co-founder said their vision was to support thousands of smaller investors with stable returns while helping small business.
“With more than 60,000 investors now regularly lending through Funding Circle, we are on track to becoming a mainstream investment choice for investors up and down the country.”
Funding Circle also receives funding from the UK government-owned British Business Bank, the European Investment Bank and financial institutions such as pension funds. Investors have now lent more than £2.3 billion to over 24,000 businesses.