Citizens Bank will introduce digital lending to small business customers through a partnership with alternative lending startup Fundation.
The service is expected to be available in mid-2017 and will allow small businesses to apply for lines of credit online through Citizen Bank’s website.
The company claims in most cases approval is provided within minutes and loans funded in as little as three business days.
Fundation will also be able to offer credit to customers that do not meet Citizen Bank’s guidelines.
This will allow the bank to serve more of its small business customers while increasing Fundation’s customer base.
Citizen Bank is the 13th largest bank in the US operating more than 1,200 branches across the North East.
The bank’s head of business banking Chris Ward said, “We know that time is valuable for our business banking customers.
“This simple digital application process will be quicker and more efficient for customers making smaller requests for credit, enabling them to get back to running their businesses sooner.”
Fundation CEO Sam Graziano said, “At Fundation, our mission is to enable our strategic partners to serve their small business customers more efficiently and more broadly. This collaboration does exactly that.
“The combination of Citizens Bank’s powerful customer-facing brand and our digital lending platform will allow us to collectively serve more customers with best-in-class products and a best-in-class customer experience.”
The deal follows a partnership between Citizen Bank and wealth management startup SigFig that will see Citizen Bank roll out its digital investment services early next year.
Fundation recently partnered with Regions Bank, the BancAlliance community bank network and the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.
The New York-based company this year secured a $100m credit facility from Goldman Sachs to expand its lending capacity.
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