Capitalise integrates Plaid’s Open Banking technology to accelerate SME funding
Ellie Duncan | News
12 Dec 2024
UK-based business finance platform Capitalise has integrated with data and Open Finance network Plaid to simplify business funding, by offering pre-approvals to 150,000 small businesses using Open Banking.
Plaid’s Open Banking technology enables businesses to connect securely to their bank and receive funding offers instantly.
By integrating Plaid’s Open Banking services into Capitalise’s ‘Instant Offers’, businesses can get pre-approved by multiple lenders, accept offers and receive the funds in minutes, rather than in days or weeks.
The collaboration also boosts Capitalise’s lending origination service by removing friction from funding journeys, reducing administrative burdens for lenders and improving conversion with faster decisions, using real-time data.
According to Plaid, adoption of Open Banking technology by UK SMEs has increased 18% year over year.
Meanwhile, challenger banks and alternative lenders now account for more than 60% of new SME lending, giving business owners more choice.
“Open Banking sits at the core of SME credit decisioning and brings confidence to underwriting risk assessments,” said Ollie Maitland, co-founder of Capitalise.
He added: “Pre-approvals have been the perfect use case for Open Banking as a win for business owners browsing and great pre-qualification for lenders looking to lend. Plaid was a natural choice with their experience in SME lending plus their global presence.”
Capitalise’s lending marketplace comprises 100 lenders, including 10 integrated Open Finance lenders on its ‘Instant Offers’ framework, with plans to add more in the future.
Zak Lambert, Europe product lead at Plaid, added that cash flow is one of the biggest challenges facing UK businesses.
“We’re delighted to be working with Capitalise to make this process smoother and faster so more businesses have access to the funding they need to thrive,” said Lambert.
Further reading: Yapily, Allica Bank discuss how Open Banking is helping UK SMEs scale
