RateSetter today announced that it has expanded its range of loans, and is now offering business loans of up to $150,000 for terms from six months to five years.
RateSetter’s new business loans are offered at low annual interest rates and are targeted at established businesses that are seeking finance to grow or expand.
As the only marketplace lending platform in Australia to accept funds from retail investors, RateSetter’s move into business financing is an exciting evolution for the industry. For the first time, retail investors now have an easy way to directly help Australian businesses grow whilst earning strong, stable returns.
RateSetter Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Daniel Foggo, says a RateSetter business loan provides established Australian businesses with a simple, more flexible alternative to bank funding.
“The success of small and medium sized businesses is vital to the Australian economy. Businesses need funds to increase productivity, grow and create jobs, yet traditional lenders’ inflexible approach leaves many businesses unable to get funding on fair terms, especially if they’re unwilling to put up the family home as security.
“This is particularly true when the amounts requested are relatively small. At RateSetter we understand that businesses’ financing needs change over the life of their business, so we offer small as well as larger loans at competitive rates.
“We take a more holistic approach to considering a loan application. There’s no box ticking at RateSetter, just a personalised approach where we take the time to understand a business’ needs and try to provide the right funding solution,” he explained.
Mr Foggo noted that RateSetter loans are substantially different to those provided by many other new ‘FinTech’ lenders.
“We are not trying to fill the void in short term funding that a number of other FinTech companies are tackling, but instead taking the banks on directly in their core market of longer term secured and unsecured business loans”.
To help support RateSetter’s growth into business lending, the company has appointed Simon Cordell to the role of Head of Credit Risk.
“Simon has worked in risk management for over 15 years, most recently as Head of Small Business Risk for American Express in Australia, and brings to RateSetter extensive experience in the business risk space, including managing consumer and small business credit portfolios globally,” he said.
RateSetter’s move into lending to businesses follows the evolution of the peer-to-peer lending industry in the UK, where over half of all lending is now to businesses. It also follows the lead of the RateSetter group in the UK, which has been successfully lending to businesses for over five years.
Mr Foggo concluded by saying “We’re excited to expand on the RateSetter group’s growing reputation as a innovative leader in providing flexible, low rate loans to businesses.
“Businesses in Australia will now have more options when it comes to financing their growth, and everyday Australian investors will now be able to contribute to that growth. Everyone’s a winner.”
