ezbob, a leader in the Lending-as-a-Service (LaaS) sector, has today announced that it has launched a CBILS eligibility and credit assessment engine to help get funds to SMEs urgently. According to the BBC “just 1.4% of enquiries are thought to have made [it] through the scheme”.[1]
The solution has been specifically developed to help financial institutions focus on those applications most likely to be approved. It offers a fully digital solution covering affordability and credit decisioning – AML/KYC and fraud assessment can be provided optionally. For financial institutions requiring deeper integration to core platforms, ezbob can provide Single Sign-on (SSO) and data collection from internal systems.
Lockdowns and social distancing mean banks are seeing a reduction in branch footfall which is causing a spike in demand across other channels. In April, “Britain's biggest business lender (NatWest) told the BBC that it is receiving nearly 10 times as many calls as usual from firms wanting to take out emergency loans.”.[2]
Many bank staff are now working remotely, and for some banks where digital transformation is still a work in progress, manual processing is required. This is exacerbated by higher loan volumes which in turn reduce the ability to respond to customer demand in a timely manner. This means that SMEs struggling with huge reductions in revenue are not receiving the help promised by the Government.
The ezbob CBILS solution requires no need for integration into existing bank infrastructure. It is a fully hosted and managed ecosystem with pre-configured 3rd party APIs, for example Open Banking, Experian and Equifax. ezbob’s solution is CBILS compliant supporting eligibility, viability and if required, British Business Bank (BBB) reporting.
ezbob has a proven track record of providing highly effective and innovative credit and risk solutions to major financial institutions such as NatWest and is currently implementing a solution for Metro Bank.
Tomer Guriel, Founder & CEO, ezbob, said: “This is a COVID-19 cure, in the financial technology sense. The benefits to both financial institutions and SMEs are clear. It allows immediate filtering of those applications most likely to succeed and therefore the ability to focus attention accordingly. We are looking for financial institutions struggling with the volume overload to work with us and ensure that the funds available for British businesses are delivered without delay.”
