American Express Brings SME Loans To Canada

American Express is rolling out business loans in Canada in an international extension of its current corporate financing offerings. American Express, which is working with ODX, will provide unsecured business loans ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 CAD (approximately $3,950 to $196,900) to some of its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients in Canada, according to a Thursday (Feb. 11) announcement.

Paul Roman, vice president and general manager of Global Commercial Services of American Express Canada, said that the card remains as an important B2B payment method for SME clients, although the company is aiming to develop its collection of products meant to support business owners aside from the card.

“With small business owners in Canada needing our support now more than ever, this is the perfect time to focus on extending our leadership in SME lending globally,” Roman said in the announcement.

American Express teamed with ODX, the originations system, to debut the loans and utilize the functions of its online platform to ensure a smooth digital application and approvals workflow. At first, the loans will be provided to a subset of American Express corporate card members. Additional card members will be invited to apply throughout 2021.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with American Express in their efforts to help businesses grow and recover,” ODX President Brian Geary said in the announcement. “Given the dramatic shift in customer needs and preferences during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to provide them with a digital experience to tap into financing.”

In the wake of the 2008 international financial crisis and banks’ subsequent pullback from the small and medium-sized business (SMB) lending space, many alternative lenders have emerged onto the scene to fill the credit gap.

Over time, that increase in competition gave way to a more teamwork-like spirit between traditional financial institutions and financial technology firms as both sides worked to bring SMB financing up to date.