Sunil Aranha, CEO ThinCats Australia – 24 April 2017

The fundamentals are clear. Small business in Australia needs finance to grow and capture market opportunities. Banks generally lend based on real estate security and small businesses run out of “real property” to offer as collateral security and can’t obtain growth finance when they need it most. There are over 2.1 million small businesses in Australia with a potential $10b per annum growth funding requirement, not being fulfilled by banks.

These are growing, bankable small companies that cannot afford and will not pay the exorbitant rates or comply with the onerous and in many instances opaque lending terms offered by many Alternative Finance short-term lenders. These “Alt Finance” lenders proliferate the market with “online” deals offering fast approval, small value loans, usually less than $50k. This is “emergency” funding and not growth finance which has been in existence since the merchants of Venice and has moved from the offline private finance world, to the online digital world over the last few years.

The driving factor behind the high interest rates of competitor “Alt finance” lenders is their high cost of capital combined with the fact that they are taking high risks, so must charge accordingly, to have sustainable businesses. The money they get to fund their loans usually comes from large financial institutions.

This is where Marketplace lending platforms come into play. The aim is to connect a community of investors (savers), usually Self-Managed Super Funds or High Net Worth investors who typically have a large amount of term deposits in banks earning extremely low rates of interest with small business borrowers who are willing and can afford to pay a higher return to these investors from a share of the profits they expect to generate by growing their revenues.

The unique aspect of marketplace lending is “fractionalisation” where many lenders participate in each loan and diversify their risk by lending small amounts to many borrowers. It presents a win-win for both groups and the sustainable “recycling” of money has a multiplier effect on economic growth, GDP and reward to society!

This new Marketplace is made possible because of access to information through advancements in technology which allows investors to directly participate in a market that has been a mainstay for bank profits over decades. Ethical marketplace lending platforms provide detailed and transparent borrower information, empowering and connecting investors (lenders) directly with worthy borrowers, via a secure online platform, with long-term growth finance periods of 2 to 5 years offered.

At ThinCats Australia, we practice these values. We are a tried and tested lending platform, with ThinCats UK our JV partner, a leader in UK marketplace lending who have over the last 7 years connected 5,885 lenders with 829 loans amounting to £230 million, an average loan size of £276k. This has generated a gross weighted average return of 11.19% p.a. to UK investors.

Here in Australia we are still young and while facing the challenge of introducing a brand new concept into this market, we have over the last two years connected around 100 High Net worth, wholesale investors (lenders) with over 45 loans to a diverse mix of borrowers, including solar energy suppliers, jet fuel wholesalers, super food manufacturers, medical, health and wellbeing service businesses and a large number of traditional wholesalers, importers and retailers.

Borrowers get to tell their story and wholesale investors make direct loans for 2 to 5 years. Investors earn the same rate of interest that borrowers pay, usually between 14% p.a. and 16% p.a. with monthly principal and interest payments – and ThinCats earn revenue by charging borrowers a fee for service.

All costs to borrowers and risks for investors are transparently stated and are aimed at empowering the community and facilitating a true SME lending marketplace.

With the continued support of new investors and small business borrowers ThinCats are fast filling this market gap and welcome new lenders and borrowers to engage with on our platform.