Starling Bank Bounce Back Loans demand surges prompting backlash

The digital bank has so far received over 18,000 applications for the Bounce Back Loan scheme that officially opened last Monday.

Starling Bank has found itself facing hurdles with its Bounce Back Loans (BBL).

Anne Boden’s bank first began facing backlash after it stopped accepting new sole trader business accounts because of “record demand” on 14 May 2020.

In a thread on Twitter, Starling announced that it would reopen the sole trader account process on 1 June 2020 so that it could “focus on better serving our existing sole traders.”

Since then, Starling has been met by a host of complaints from customers claiming to have been rejected for a BBL with the bank—although many have pointed out that this is because the customers likely failed the necessary fraud checks needed to receive a BBL.

In a tweet on Friday, Starling said it had processed 99.7 per cent of BBL applications with the average time for customers to receive funding being only 27 hours.

On Sunday evening following some backlash, Anne Boden tweeted that Starling had only processed 75 per cent of applications and had declined 16 per cent, with over 94 per cent of customers getting paid within 24 hours of signing their loan agreement.

Late on Friday evening, Anne Boden tweeted: “I am really sorry to disappoint customers at this very difficult time.”

Of the 18,161 applications the digital bank has received, 16 per cent have been rejected, equating to just over 2,900 applications.

At AltFi’s Digital Summit on Friday, Boden told AltFi that Starling had lent out £263m to SMEs in need and had also announced a partnership with Funding Circle to dish out £300m more.

Comments

Fund offers £60 million for businesses looking into sustainable technologies

Fund offers £60 million for businesses looking into sustainable technologies Businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who are looking to develop innovative technology in the energy sector can now bid for a share of up to £60 million in grant funding through the IETF Phase 2: Autumn 2021 competition window. The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is targeted at feasibility and engineering studies, as well as the deployment of industrial energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation projects. Funding will be available to businesses for: Studies - feasibility and engineering studies to investigate identified energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects prior to an investment decision. Energy Efficiency projects - deployment of technologies to reduce industrial energy consumption. Deep Decarbonisation projects - deployment of technologies to achieve industrial emissions sav...

Employees fearful about return to work

Employees fearful about return to work - survey More than half of the UK’s workforce is not ready to return to work - with many being anxious or deeply concerned, according to a new survey. In a new report by workplace wellbeing specialists, BHSF, 45 per vent described their feelings about the return to work negatively. Only five per cent of employers have put in extra employee support services for those returning to a more normal work pattern. Challenges facing businesses are compounded by the fact that not all staff are comfortable raising health concerns with their line managers. Almost one-third (30 per cent) confirmed they would not feel comfortable discussing any mental health, physical health, grief or financial concerns with their line manager. When looking at concerns where workers are comfortable disclosing with their line managers, the reading is equally alarming. Only 41 per cent said they would discuss mental health concerns with their manager, while even fewer would discu...

Meet five advisers who’ll help your business become ‘fit for finance’

Meet five advisers who’ll help your business become ‘fit for finance’ Charlie Gilbert Content Manager Enterprise Nation In our previous post, we covered the topic of how to use any money you raise – with the services of advisers being a crucial area small businesses should consider investing in. These services, however, are often needed before a business applies for funding. Take financial advisers and accountants, for example. Their job isn’t solely about helping you keep on top of your incomings and outgoings; it’s also about making you ‘fit for finance’ – in other words, helping position you as an attractive prospect to lenders or investors. They do this in myriad ways – from increasing profitability by helping you run your business more efficiently, to improving cashflow by advising on, and helping you implement, processes that keep cash in your business (automated payment collections, for example, or credit control). Some advisers will ensure you’re set up to sca...

Grant McKnight Blog

Search This Blog