The announcement follows Santander InnoVentures’ investment in the online lender in October last year.

 

Nathan Bostock, Chief Executive Officer, Santander UK said: "With SMEs comprising 99% of the UK private sector, having fast and secure access to funds would ensure they can continue to make an important contribution to the UK economy.

 

“Our collaboration with Kabbage aims to provide UK businesses with the ability to draw down funds as and when required, whether this be covering a short-term funding need or enabling them to seize growth opportunities as they arise." 

 

The Kabbage platform uses a risk scoring methodology determined by Santander UK’s credit experts, combined with knowledge gathered through Kabbage’s experiences in other territories.

 

Kabbage also references multiple external sources including credit ratings, social media, payments providers, online marketplaces and the SME’s bank account history, both from Santander and other bank accounts held by the SME.

 

Kathryn Petralia, Chief Operating Officer at Kabbage, said: "We are excited by our collaboration with Santander, who has demonstrated a strong appetite to go further than a standard conversation around innovation in the financial technology landscape. 

 

“Today’s announcement underscores the institution’s desire to present a technology and data-driven solution, quickly, to its customers. It’s great to work at pace and push the boundaries in order to build a better service for UK businesses."

 

The two firms are planning to soft launch the online working capital service over the next two months to a group of Santander customers.