CBILS approvals by banks remain below 50pc
Banks continue to approve fewer than half of applications for the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), as total lending reached more than £4.1bn under the scheme this week.
Banking trade body UK Finance said lenders have received 52,807 completed CBILS applications so far, 25,262 of which have been approved to date.
This figure includes rejections, applications that are still being processed and those that businesses may not take, but it suggests an approval rate of 47.8 per cent so far.
The figure is up from the rate of 46.1 per cent recorded last week.
UK Finance said £1.33bn of loans were approved in the week from 21 April to 28 April 2020, while the number of loans provided through the scheme increased by 8,638 during that period.
“The banking and finance sector recognises the role we must play in getting the country through these tough times, and staff are working incredibly hard to get money to those viable businesses that need it,” Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said.
It comes as peer-to-peer lenders such as Folk2Folk and Assetz Capital continue to await the outcome of applications to be CBILS-approved lenders.
Only Funding Circle has been approved so far among P2P platforms, although former P2P lender ThinCats was accredited earlier this week.