The bank already reduced its minimum loan size to £200,000 in this sector in February, but said there was growing demand from brokers for even smaller loans to support small businesses.
Tom Renwick (pictured), head of business lending at Atom Bank, said: “Since our reduction to £200,000 earlier in the year, the feedback from brokers and SMEs has been loud and clear, indicating a specific need to reduce this even further. We know that there are very few other lenders supporting businesses at these lower loan sizes, and as a start-up and challenger to the high street ourselves, we want to be able to make a difference where it matters.”
Reduced rates
Atom Bank has also reduced its rates for new applications by 0.25% for trading businesses and 0.34% for commercial investment cases on average.
The new rates are effective immediately and will apply to all new qualifying applications received from today.
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Renwick said technology improvements and efficiency were allowing the company to make the change.
Atom Bank has introduced a succession of strategic enhancements to the broker portal and back-office processes, which are allowing the bank to step up in this area.
“Our continuous focus on operational efficiencies, driven by enhancements to our digital processes, has significantly accelerated our service. Crucially, by automating parts of the lending process, we have freed up capacity that allows us to expand our support for SMEs while ensuring we continue to provide the service we are becoming known for,” Renwick added.
Earlier this year, Atom Bank said it had surpassed £1bn in commercial mortgages on its balance sheet, adding that this showed “consistent growth” delivered by the commercial lending team.
