Virgin Money drastically cuts loan application time with fintech

Virgin Money has cut the time it takes to apply for a business loan from days to minutes, through Trade Ledger fintech.

The bank, renamed Clydesdale and Yorkshire Group, has entered into a three-year deal with loan-as-a-service software provider Trade Ledger.

The business loan application process at the bank used to take up to five days, but thanks to the software, which automates decision-making, it can now be completed in as little as 20 minutes.

Trade Ledger’s business lending platform analyzes data and automates key lending processes.

Graeme Sands, head of business loans and products at Virgin Money, said the technology aggregates business accounting and credit data, speeding up the process while managing risk.

He said automation would free up staff time to provide customer services. “Importantly, the efficiencies that the Trade Ledger platform will bring will also mean that our relationship managers will be able to focus more on supporting clients where they need it most, rather than being involved. in time-consuming manual processes.”

The platform’s real-time screening tool can be completed in minutes, giving business customers an instant eligibility decision. “By directly accessing accounting data from a variety of software packages and business credit information from Experian, the typical five-day application process will be reduced to 20 minutes,” the bank said.

Facing fierce competition from challenger financial service providers, who are using the latest technologies to improve customer services, traditional banks such as Virgin Money are using fintech services to speed up customer services.

CYBG took over Virgin Money following a £1.7bn deal in October 2018, creating the UK’s sixth-largest bank as Virgin Money.