Linked Finance offers financial supports to SMEs affected by coronavirus

Repayment breaks of up to three months being arranged for the most affected borrowers

Trade

Niall Dorrian, Linked Finance

23 March 2020

Linked Finance has revealed several financial supports for existing and new SME customers during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform has applied a blanket two-month payment break to all loans across the hospitality trade.

For borrowers in other affected industries, Linked Finance has offered a break in the repayment schedule of existing loans by up to three months.

Additionally, it is preparing to launch a new loan facility with a deferred repayment feature. This should help SMEs to get the finance they need now, without starting repayments for three months.

“We have been actively engaging with our borrowers who have been hard-hit by the need to close stores, reduce opening hours or who are experiencing disrupted supply chains,” Niall Dorrian, chief executive of Linked Finance.

“Many have seen their takings dry up overnight. Irish SMEs are the lifeblood of the Irish economy and we want to support them through this unprecedented crisis. We have been overwhelmed with the support we are getting from our base of lenders for the proactive measures. They are ordinary individuals and often business owners themselves; they really understand what our borrowers are going through.”

Dorrian added that it has been “actively engaging with the government to ensure that the alternative lending sector is part of the wider solution for SMEs during this uncertain time”.

Since its launch in 2013, Linked Finance has provided 2,500 businesses across the country with more than €130 million in loans.

TechCentral Reporters