LONDON (Reuters) – Several of Britain’s digital banks are still waiting to hear if they can offer government-backed loans to struggling small businesses damaged by the coronavirus outbreak, days after a multi-billion pound rescue scheme was launched.
Neo-banks including OakNorth, Tide and Starling – which have hundreds of thousands of business customers between them – have applied to take part in the so-called Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), but have not heard when they will be able to access the funds to help customers in need.
The scheme was first unveiled by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak last week as part of a 330 billion pound ($397 billion)support package for firms hit by a sudden surge in costs from staff falling ill or self-isolating, and a simultaneous collapse in revenues triggered by the country’s lockdown.
The government-backed British Business Bank (BBB) launched CBILS on Monday by repurposing an existing funding scheme set up during the global…
Source Reuters Tech News
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