Online shopping has outstripped all other forms of spending over the past month, with more than half of UK shoppers (57 per cent) saying they are shopping online more than ever and record numbers signing up to virtual experiences like home fitness classes, TV and film subscriptions and online learning during lockdown.

Responses from 183 senior leaders across firms based in Luxembourg’s financial centre – including a mix of global and local asset managers, banks, insurers and professional service providers – revealed that three quarters (74%) of them do not expect to see economic conditions normalise to pre-crisis levels for at least 1 year, and potentially 2 to 3 years.

Following the coronavirus outbreak, consumers are ready to go cashless more than ever before. With many businesses discouraging the use of cash because of hygiene questions that surround handling money, contactless payments are front of mind to avoid touching pin pads.
 
But in an increasingly cashless ecosystem, there is a growing threat of card fraud from the lack of authentication. So we have reached the point where contactless payments need to be made more secure in order to ensure transactions are hygienic, convenient and free from the risk of fraud.
 

Today the British Business Bank has announced that it has approved two new lenders for accreditation to offer Covid-19 business loans to small businesses across the UK.

Tide will join the other 16 lenders who have been accredited to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), since the scheme opened last week.

Alternative finance lender Liberis has also been approved for accreditation by the British Business Bank under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), to offer term loans.

Tide Capital, the credit subsidiary of Tide, the UK’s leading business banking platform, has been accredited by the British Business Bank as a lender under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS). This will allow the platform to offer term loans of between £2k and £50k to small businesses that are struggling financially as a result of the coronavirus crisis. As has been the case with other lenders accredited to deliver the BBLS, Tide is now working with the British Business Bank to operationalise the scheme and will begin delivering Bounce Back Loans early during the week commencing 18 May 2020.

Following an initial backlash in response to the Treasury’s distribution of its support package from the SME community, the government has since expanded its Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to accredit more lenders to support British businesses. It’s great to see some alternative lenders too being given the opportunity to be part of the CBILS to help those businesses desperate for vital funding. However, the execution of these state schemes still excludes key players from the SME lending sector.