The banking and finance sector has provided over £4.1bn to small and medium enterprises via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), according to data released by UK Finance
The banking and finance sector has provided over £4.1bn to small and medium enterprises via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) according to data released by UK Finance.
More than £1.33bn in loans was approved in the week from 21 April to 28 April 2020 alone.
The number of loans provided through the scheme during the same period increased by 8,638, to a total of 25,262, an increase of more than 50%.
Lenders have received 52,807 completed CBILS applications so far, 25,262 of which have been approved.
Following reforms introduced this week by the Treasury and British Business Bank, the largest lenders will not require forward-looking financial information, and will only ask businesses for information and data they might reasonably provide at speed.
This aims to streamline the application process and provide refinancing to businesses that it as quickly as possible.
The British Business Bank approved four more lenders for accreditation this week, bringing the total number to 52.
Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: The banking and finance sector recognises the role we must play in getting the country through these tough times, and staff are working incredibly hard to get money to those viable businesses that need it.
More than £4bn has been delivered to over 25,000 businesses so far through the CBIL scheme, as part of a broad package of support for SMEs including capital repayment holidays, extended overdrafts and asset-based finance, Jones said.
The changes to the scheme announced by the Chancellor this week will enable lenders to streamline their application processes and help even more businesses access the support they need. This extensive support will be complemented by the new Bounce Back Loans scheme targeted at smaller businesses, which lenders are now working at pace to get up and running from Monday, he said.
