Funding Circle launches payment product
Funding Circle has launched its first payments facility, FlexiPay, to give businesses the flexibility to buy now pay later on any expense.
FlexiPay allows companies to spread any UK invoice or supplier payment over three months, with the initial payment made upfront on their behalf.
Funding Circle said FlexiPay gives firms more flexibility to negotiate with suppliers, deal with unexpected payments and buy equipment whereas previously small businesses could only access short-term finance through more conventional routes, such as bridging, an overdraft or credit card.
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Because of the peer-to-peer lending platform’s machine learning risk models and instant decision lending technology, businesses can apply within minutes and approved borrowers can access between £2,000 and £30,000 almost immediately.
Funding Circle has launched FlexiPay in beta mode to a selection of its existing borrowers with interest-free repayments, and a transparent three per cent flat fee on each transaction.
All payments to suppliers are confidential and made in the businesses’ name. New borrowers can join the waitlist to be next to access the product when its rolled out more widely in the coming months.
Funding Circle is also launching a waitlist for firms interested in early access to a business charge card, with one per cent unlimited cashback and nothing to pay for 30 days to help manage their spending.
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“We are really excited to be using our market-leading technology to launch FlexiPay, which is designed to support small businesses to manage and control their cashflow,” said Lisa Jacobs (pictured) Europe managing director of Funding Circle.
“The new product enables businesses to buy now and pay later on any business spend in a way that suits them.”
Last year, Funding Circle accelerated the roll-out of its instant decision lending, which now serves half of its term loan customers and according to the platform has reduced the application time to an average of six minutes and wait for decisions to nine seconds.