Lend expands partner panel

With 18 lenders now on panel and a further seven onboarding, the SME platform has been bringing on more lenders to help offer brokers’ SME clients with more support during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Speaking to The Adviser about the expansion, Lend’s head of third party, Donelle Brooks, told The Adviser: “We are expanding our lender panel to bring greater product diversity and choice for brokers and their clients. 

“As COVID-19 has unfolded, lender appetites have also changed. Expanding our panel allows brokers to have a greater ability at getting the funding their client needs,” she said, adding: “COVID-19 loans might not be the best solution for everyone, so having a panel where we cover these stimulus packages, but also a range of other options, is exciting.”

The head of third party continued: “What we are really excited about is the support and faith in the Australian economy and SMEs to bounce back, and that lenders are wanting to partner with us so that we can continue to offer choice and solutions directly to our SME and broker family.”

Ms Brooks added that the new platform aimed to “completely re-architect the way commercial finance brokers, borrowers and lenders interact”, by simplifying the application process into a single application that works with all lenders, negating the need to upload statements, and enabling applications to automatically move from one lender to the next if the first lender is unable to assist.

“We also help brokers with their cash flow by paying 100 per cent of the commission the same day a deal settles,” she said.

New appointees to the Lend panel include Funda and Scottish Pacific, with Speedy Finance and Fuzion among the new lenders that are in the process of onboarding.

[Related: SME lending platform appoints new head of broker]