Ebury is the first non-bank financial institution to be granted approval to provide SMEs with loans under the Italian government’s guarantee scheme “Garanzia Italia”*. The scheme, which is available to Italian businesses with less than 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion turnover, provides government guarantees to cover up to 90% of the loan value.

Ebury’s participation follows the company’s announcement of the initiative to offer financing to SMEs in the UK and Europe amidst the coronavirus crisis. An initial £40m lending facility to help SMEs manage their working capital during the coronavirus crisis has already been launched. Earlier this month, Ebury was approved by the Dutch and Spanish governments’ coronavirus business aid schemes. It is also currently going through the approval process in the UK and other countries.

Juan Lobato Co-Founder of Ebury commented:

“We are delighted to be assisting the Italian SME community and government by helping to maximise the impact of this scheme during this crisis. We are now assisting governments in Spain, The Netherlands and Italy in the race to provide the necessary funds to thousands of businesses stricken by the fight against the coronavirus.

Ebury was founded in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and our flexible digital operations make us ideally placed to help governments distribute financial aid to small businesses throughout Europe.”