Linked Finance launch Open Banking Service to speed up application times
Linked Finance, Ireland’s leading peer-to-peer (P2P) digital lending platform, has launched a new ‘Open Banking’ platform service for Irish SMEs who need fast, secure and efficient access to finance to drive business growth as the economy reopens.
The addition of open banking to the application process will allow Irish SMEs to share their bank account information and transaction data with Linked Finance in a fast, secure and efficient manner. The move reduces barriers to finance and allows Linked Finance to carry out the necessary credit evaluations to determine the eligibility to receive loans.
As part of the EU regulation, Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), open banking was introduced in an effort to increase competition and choice for businesses, as well as consumers.
Linked Finance has embraced open banking to allow Irish SMEs to share financial data for speed and efficiency. For Linked Finance, open banking permits access to the financial data customers want to share in a safe and instantaneous way which results in quick credit decisions and responsive service.
Linked Finance’s open banking service is one part of the platform’s wider efforts to support homegrown SMEs as they continue to trade and recover from the huge challenges they have faced through the pandemic.
Commenting on the new Open Banking service, Niall O’Grady, CEO of Linked Finance said: “We are delighted to announce the introduction of our Open Banking capabilities as a means of creating an easy application method for businesses looking to access finance fast and efficiently in a seamless online process. Customers no longer need to go through the hassle of locating and printing bank statements, this allows us to access them safely and securely.
Linked Finance is committed to helping Irish SMEs on the road to recovery as more and more areas of the economy reopen. This new capability is set to make the speed of our application process even faster, requiring less manual and time-consuming actions from our SME businesses. This is just another way that we will continue to support the great local businesses that form the backbone of our economy as they navigate recovery.”
One Linked Finance borrower who has recently availed of a new loan through the open banking service is Kelly Rahill Limited, a certified accountancy and registered auditors’ business. Kelly Rahill submitted their application and received approval within 24-hours utilising the Open Banking platform.
Gerard Kelly, partner at Kelly Rahill & Co Limited said: “Linking our bank statements through open banking was simple, secure and seamless. It was straightforward and reduced the need for cumbersome manual inputs and paperwork which saved us much time and effort.”
Since its establishment in 2013 Linked Finance has grown rapidly to deliver over €177m+ to over 3,000+ ambitious local businesses in every county in the country. Companies that have availed of lending through Linked Finance include Skingredients, Tara Slevin, The Agile Executive, and Schoolbooks.ie.
