Funding Circle Customer Reviews

How does Funding Circle work?

Funding Circle offers fast online business loans by matching SMEs with institutional lenders. After a quick digital application and credit checks on the business and directors, approved borrowers get fixed-rate loans (6 months to 6 years) with funds in days, personal guarantees required, and no early repayment fees.

Are Funding Circle loans secured?

Yes, Funding Circle offers both secured and unsecured loans. Unsecured loans do not require business assets as collateral, while secured loans involve using business assets (machinery, equipment, property etc.) or through asset finance via trusted partners.

Secured loans tend to allow for larger borrowing amounts (up to about £5 million in some asset-finance or secured-loan cases) and often have lower interest rates, because there’s collateral which reduces lender risk.

Does Funding Circle conduct a credit check?

Yes, they do credit checks. When you apply, Funding Circle will perform assessments that include both business creditworthiness and often personal credit checks on business owners or directors, especially where personal guarantees are involved.

Initially, checking eligibility or getting a quote may involve a soft credit check (which doesn’t impact your credit score), but if you accept the loan offer, a full hard credit check is likely.

Does Funding Circle have a minimum credit score?

Funding Circle does not always publish a strict minimum personal credit score threshold that every applicant must have, but credit history is a factor in risk banding and loan decision. Poor credit could lead to higher interest rates or possibly rejection.

Also, businesses with adverse credit events (for example directors involved in liquidated companies) may have difficulty qualifying. So while there is no clearly published “minimum credit score” in all cases, meeting good credit criteria improves eligibility.

Does Funding Circle require personal guarantees?

Yes. Funding Circle requires personal guarantees for all its business loans (term loans etc.) and for lines of credit over certain sizes. The guarantees mean that owners or directors may be personally liable if the business fails to repay. This helps lenders mitigate risk and may enable more businesses to be approved.

How does Funding Circle FlexiPay work?

FlexiPay is a line-of-credit product by Funding Circle designed to help businesses manage cash flow by spreading certain payments over short-term instalments (1, 3, 6, 9 or 12 months). You can use it to pay bills, suppliers, invoices etc.; Funding Circle pays upfront, then you repay over the chosen period.

There’s no interest per se, but a fee per transaction and a flat fee, rather than ongoing interest rates. It acts similarly to a revolving facility: once paid down, you can reuse the credit (subject to eligibility). Also, applications for FlexiPay allow limited companies or LLPs to check eligibility without affecting credit score.

Is Funding Circle a bank?

No. Funding Circle is not a bank. It is a fintech lender / platform. It is regulated, but it does not take deposits like a bank; instead, it offers finance products by lending or arranging lending to businesses, and sometimes connects businesses to investors or institutional capital.

What happens if you can’t pay a Funding Circle loan?

If you can’t make payments on a Funding Circle loan, the company has a process. First, you are urged to contact them as soon as possible to discuss options.

If repayments are missed, then because many of their loans involve personal guarantees, the guarantors (directors etc.) may become personally liable. For secured loans, the lender may enforce security by selling business assets pledged. Also, there may be consequences on credit or legal enforcement.