P2P lender beats challenger banks in SME lending

Funding Circle has claimed to be the third largest source of finance for SMEs in the third quarter, according to Q3 data from the Funding for Lending scheme.

The peer-to-peer lender was behind Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Lloyds Banking Group after lending £91.5m during the period.

"Whilst the Funding for Lending scheme has helped, take up has not driven substantial increases in net lending because it doesn't solve the cumbersome bank lending process,” said James Meekings, Co-founder and UK Managing Director of Funding Circle. 

“New forms of innovative finance are growing exponentially however, as they offer a fundamentally better all-round experience to small businesses."

Challenger banks Aldermore, OneSavings and Shawbrook also made it into the top 11 list.

The list and the net lend to SMEs for the third quarter can be found below: 

FLS participant	Net lending to SMEs Q3 2015 (£m)
RBS Group	290
Lloyds Banking Group	275
Funding Circle	91.5
Aldermore	83
Arbuthnot Latham	77
Yorkshire Building Society	38
Close Brothers	35
OneSavings Bank	26
Julian Hodge Bank	22
Cambridge & Counties Bank	21
Shawbrook Bank	16