Atom Bank cuts Recovery Loan Scheme and standard secured rates

Variable rates have been reduced by up to 0.45 per cent while fixed rates have been cut by up to 0.5 per cent. 

Now, within its standard secured loan offering, a variable rate on a five-year term averages at 2.61 per cent plus base rate. For fixed rates, the average pricing is now 7.41 per cent for a five-year fix. 

Additionally, Atom Bank will increase its proc fee for business lending from 1.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent for a limited time. This will apply until 30 September and is subject to broker agreement. 

The change brings the proc fee in line with its application fee, which has also risen to 1.5 per cent. 

Extended broker panel 

The lender has also increased its broker panel to further expand into the SME lending market. 

Atom Bank said it had seen £500m in new business quotes from its business development manager team and the broker self-service quote tool since it made changes to the online broker portal and back office platform.  

It now claims that the time to underwrite a case has shortened by around half.  

David Castling (pictured), head of intermediary distribution at Atom Bank, said: “We’re delighted we have been able to cut rates across our RLS and standard secured loan range as we also expand our broker panel. Faced with economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, it’s vital that small business owners are able to get a quick financing decision through their broker, and crucially, at a competitive rate.  

“We quickly took action to protect service levels by announcing a stop to new business applications in March. It was essential to take a considered approach with our return to market and we have been re-engaging with brokers on our panel through multiple phases since April. I am absolutely delighted with the level of activity and support we have seen so far and I’m excited to announce the next phase of 50 firms being reintroduced to our panel.” 

He added: “We took time while off-sale to innovate and improve our processes, to make applying for a loan faster and easier for our brokers. We believe the changes we have made to our underwriting process recently will be transformative, drastically reducing the time it takes to review cases.”