Support allows lending specialist to deliver capital
Small business lending specialist Prospa has gained access to the New Zealand government’s Business Finance Guarantee Scheme (BFGS), allowing it to deliver capital quickly and efficiently to a broader range of small businesses and drive economic recovery.
According to a recent study commissioned by Prospa and conducted by YouGov, 57% of small business owners in New Zealand believe it is getting harder to access funding from banks and traditional lenders. Of those who tried to access funding, more than half (55%) missed out on opportunities to grow their business because they could not access funding when they needed it.
The BFGS can help small businesses access credit for cashflow, capital assets, and projects related to, responding to, or recovering from the impacts of COVID-19. Prospa has received an allocation under the scheme, which can be applied to all eligible new loans issued by the small business lending specialist before June 30, 2021.
Adrienne Church, the general manager of Prospa NZ, commented: “Our inclusion in the BFGS will empower us to support even more SMEs as they look to hire new employees, upgrade equipment, roll out new products and services, and invest in their future. The government’s decision to extend access to the scheme to fintech lenders like Prospa reinforces the important and growing role we are playing in improving the flow of capital to small businesses across New Zealand.
“Our recent research shows that there is considerable pent-up demand, with many small businesses finding it difficult, cumbersome, and slow to access funding through traditional banks. Prospa has always focused on small business, and with our deep sector insights and data-driven technology platform, we are well-positioned to deliver this crucial funding under the scheme. We look forward to doing our part to support New Zealand’s continued economic recovery.”
Prospa uses its proprietary credit decision engine (CDE) to quickly and effectively assess small business credit risk. The CDE analyses over 450 unique data points with each application and leverages a database with credit data from over 100,000 application data sets. Small businesses can complete an application on the lending specialist’s platform in minutes, receive a credit decision within the same business day, and, if successful, often have funds transferred within 24 hours.
