UK digital challenger, Starling Bank, has announced plans to move forward with a small business lending offering; last year they began offering business banking after focusing just on consumers for their first few years in business; loans will likely be offered between £5,000 and £250,000 or possibly larger depending on demand; they will be hiring new staff to help in this initiative and will not aim for a completely automated underwriting system; Starling’s Head of SME Banking, Stuart Doignie, said, “We don’t think we’re going to automate every lending decision. I think you’d be crazy to think that. But we want to obviously get to a point where we can deliver [as much] of that decision and experience as we can in an automated way.” Source.
