Small Business Loan Platform Ranqx Launches in North America

Small- to medium-sized business (SMB) loan origination, decisioning and monitoring platform Ranqx has launched operations in North America, saying it will provide SMBs a frictionless application process and lenders a better understanding of applicants.

The New Zealand-based company’s platform offers banks, credit unions (CUs) and lenders a fully digital application process that SMBs can complete in two minutes, and then leverages real-time data to underwrite a loan in less than three minutes, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“Right now, credit underwriting in [the North American market] can take many weeks to complete,” Ranqx Founder and CEO Dave Lewis said in the release. “We’re able to reduce that timeframe down to a couple of minutes, while also providing real-time, granular insights and more accurate underwriting decisions.”

PYMNTS data underscores the urgency that U.S. SMBs are now facing as they continue struggling with cashflow issues while the pandemic wanes.

Read more: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report Finds FinTech Lending Crucial for SMBs

The study “The Main Street Economic Health Survey: Navigating Economic Uncertainty,” a PYMNTS and Melio collaboration based on a survey of more than 500 U.S. SMBs, found that while “cash cushions improved for some firms, the portion of businesses with no available cash rose to 18% from 15%,” in Q1, showing the cash pressures that recovering SMBs are still under.

Ranqx’s digital lending platform is already used by lenders and SMBs in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Its launch in North America comes in collaboration with Visa, which will introduce the company to its network of financial institutions, per the Ranqx press release.

“North American businesses need capital to help power productivity and maintain sustained employment,” Lewis said in the release. “Digitally efficient solutions, such as ours, offer this in abundance and can play a crucial role in fostering economic recovery in the region.”

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