12 September 2024
- Funding Circle launches new Cashback card with 2% cashback for the first 6 months
- With this latest product expansion, businesses can now borrow, pay later and spend through Funding Circle, leveraging the company’s existing strengths in SME credit, data, distribution and brand
- Last year, a fifth of SMEs named credit cards and overdrafts as their preferred finance option1
Funding Circle, the UK’s leading SME lending platform, has launched its latest product, the Funding Circle Cashback Business Credit Card to support small businesses with everyday business transactions, as its next step in backing more SMEs with the finance they need.
The Cashback card offers market-leading benefits with 2% cashback on all business spending for the first six months - earning up to £2,000 - and 1% unlimited cashback after that. The product allows customers to repay in full or through part-payments, and earn cashback on every transaction that they make on the Cashback card. With a credit limit of up to £250,000 and the best cashback available in the market, the new product can be used by small businesses for everyday spending such as business travel and office supplies, or larger payments such as stock orders or new equipment.
Today, small businesses can use Funding Circle’s platform to:
- Borrow - for long term investment purposes to support business growth or long term cash flow management,
- Pay later - with FlexiPay, Funding Circle’s flexible line of credit for paying bills and supplier invoices upfront by card or bank transfer, then spread the costs to better manage short term cash flow,
- Spend - using the newly launched Cashback card for everyday business spending.
Having first launched in 2010 offering term loans to SMEs in a large and underserved market, Funding Circle now provides small businesses in the UK with an expanded product set in a growing and attractive market, leveraging its existing capabilities in SME credit, data, distribution, and brand. As the business goes from strength to strength, the Cashback card enables Funding Circle to tap into the SME card transactions market of over £80bn per year2.
SMEs are increasingly looking for a range of financial products to meet their working capital needs: in 2023, a fifth of SMEs named credit cards and overdrafts as their preferred finance option. The latest Impact Report of Funding Circle’s SME customer base conducted by Oxford Economics found they were used by 20% and 17% of SMEs respectively in Q2 2023, compared with the 10% that used bank loans1. The Funding Circle report also found that SMEs are showing increased resilience and optimism despite economic headwinds over the last year.
Jerome Fernandez, Managing Director at FlexiPay, Funding Circle said, “Following the launch of FlexiPay, our line of credit product, we’re excited to be expanding our product range further as we aim to serve more small businesses across all their financial needs.
We know that SMEs are already using credit cards and overdrafts to finance a wide range of spending, and we want to offer them a product that could give them even more. That’s why we’ve launched the Cashback Business Credit Card, rewarding them with market-leading cashback for their spending, whether that’s for large items or everyday costs.”
Since Funding Circle was founded in 2010, it has extended £13.6bn in credit to over 103,000 small businesses in the UK. Funding Circle's products are seeing strong growth and engagement from customers with Term Loan originations growing by 47% YoY in H1 2024 and FlexiPay transactions increasing by 151% YoY, with more than half a billion in transactions to date. Businesses have FlexiPayed more than 140,000 times, with active customers FlexiPaying more than once a month.
On 5th September 2024, Funding Circle published its Half Year 2024 financial results where the business reported a strong delivery in H1 with profitability ahead of expectations, guidance on track for H2 and high growth in the first six months of the year. Looking ahead, the company remains committed to its mission of being the small business finance provider that backs small businesses to get the funding they need to win.
- ENDS -
For more information
About Funding Circle
Funding Circle (LSE: FCH) is a leading UK lending platform for SME borrowers. Established in the UK in 2010, and now the leading lending platform to SMEs, Funding Circle has extended more than £13.6bn in credit to c.103,500 businesses in the UK.
For SME borrowers, Funding Circle provides an unrivalled customer experience, delivered through its technology and data, coupled with a human touch. Its solutions continue to help customers access the funding they need to succeed. For institutional investors, Funding Circle provides access to an alternative asset class in an underserved market, and delivers robust and attractive returns.
1 Source: Funding Circle 2024 Impact Report
2 Source: Visa UK SME market assessment
*Market-leading cashback business credit card where the business can apply without needing an existing current account with the credit provider
