The Covid Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) had three of its biggest weeks for lending starting in February in a sign that adding several non-bank lenders as distributors for State-backed funding early in the year might be paying off. The fund supported nearly €17m in loans to 184 businesses that week – double the average since launch in September 2020. The increase in lending volume follows the addition in mid-January of 19 credit unions and four non-bank lenders alongside AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank as 'on-lenders' for the subsidised money. One of the non-bank lenders, peer-to-peer finance company Linked Finance, provided €3m in loans in its first month of operating under the scheme, touting its 24-hour credit decision time as a key factor. Since its launch in September, the CGS has struggled to gain momentum in the marketplace, despite the challenging credit conditions for SMEs.

Source: Irish Independent March 18, 2021 02:03 UTC