Linked Finance raises SME loan limit to €500,000

Non-bank lender Linked Finance has increased its maximum loan size, from €300,000 to €500,000.

It comes as the alternative lender says the average loan size on its platform has increased by 20% in the past year.

This, it says, is due to borrowers seeking more complex funding requirements while also facing rising cost pressures around energy and other inputs.

Linked Finance says the average loan on its platform is currently €107,000, compared to €90,000 a year ago.

It says two companies have already availed of the higher maximum loan threshold.

“Our ability to deliver quick decisions through a simple, user-friendly application process is vital as business grapple with a complex business environment fraught with the uncertainty of rising input costs,” said Linked Finance CEO Niall O’Grady.

“The fact that 40% of the loans we issued this year are to repeat customers is a sign that our service is extremely popular with business owners who are happy to move an increasing portion of their credit requirements to Linked Finance as a serious alternative to traditional banks.”

Linked Finance is a peer-to-peer lender, which allows individuals, companies and investors to offer money to businesses in the form of a loan.

It says it has issued 3,200 loans to Irish SMEs since it was set up in Ireland in 2013, amounting to more than €193m.