Co-op Bank among latest Bounce Back Loan Scheme approvals

Today (May 7) the British Business Bank has announced that it has approved three new lenders for accreditation under the Bounce Bank Loan Scheme.

Manchester-based The Co-operative Bank, Allied Irish Bank and Starling Bank join TSB who were also accredited this week.

They will be able to provide financial support to smaller businesses across the UK that are losing revenue and seeing their cashflow disrupted, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The scheme is intended to target small and micro businesses in all sectors, with loans from £2,000 up to 25% of the business’s turnover with a maximum loan of £50,000.

Following their approval, these three lenders will be putting in place the operations required to start lending under the scheme and will confirm shortly the dates from which they will be ready to start receiving Bounce Back Loan Scheme applications from smaller businesses across the UK.

Donald Kerr, director of SME banking at The Co-operative Bank, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of the UK and so it’s vital that we do all we can to give them access to funding so that they can meet this unprecedented challenge.

“The Co-operative Bank has worked at pace with the British Business Bank to offer Bounce Back Loans to provide our customers with further support during the coronavirus outbreak.

“This will be added to a range of measures we have already introduced to help our SME customers manage their cash flow, such as offering the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) across our overdraft and loan products for business customers.

“We have maintained an ongoing conversation with the small businesses we work with to understand their needs at this difficult time and we will continue to do so, with the aim to be as supportive as possible.”

All lenders accredited under CBILS have been invited to become accredited to offer loans under the terms of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

The British Business Bank is working at pace to accredit those lenders who want to provide lending under the scheme to further extend its reach and provide more choice for smaller businesses.

Keith Morgan, British Business Bank chief executive, said: “There has been incredible demand from smaller businesses for Bounce Back Loans since the scheme launched this week.

“Onboarding lenders with the capability and means to deliver the scheme rapidly means that more UK smaller businesses will be able to access the finance they need to get through the current pandemic.”

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme has previously accredited 11 lenders. These are Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Clydesdale Bank & Yorkshire Bank, Danske Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Santander, TSB, RBS and Ulster Bank.

The scheme enables businesses to obtain a six-year term loan at a government set interest rate of 2.5% a year. The Government will cover interest payable in the first year.

TheBusinessDesk.com’s webinar, How to plan your way through to when restrictions are eased, saw partners from Begbies Traynor discuss the key issues facing business owners and managers in the weeks ahead.