Atom Bank has made rate reductions on its Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) and standard secured loan range.
Effective from 10th July 2023, Atom Bank has slashed its variable product rates by up to 0.50% and its fixed product rates by up to 0.45%.
The adjusted rates mean that for variable rate products in the standard secured loan range, Atom Bank now offers an average rate of 2.61% over base rate for a 5-year term, while for fixed rate products, it offers an average rate of 7.41% for a similar term.
In addition, until 30th September, Atom Bank is augmenting its procuration fee for business lending from 1.25% to 1.5% (subject to broker agreement), with the application fee also rising to the same rate.
These price reductions coincide with Atom Bank’s expansion of its commercial broking panel and numerous tech updates. In a concerted effort to streamline the lending process for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Atom Bank has implemented over 120 changes to its online broker portal and back-office origination platform over the past two months, resulting in a roughly 50% decrease in underwriting time.
Atom Bank’s recent credit policy enhancements have led to the generation of over £0.5bn in new business quotes by the Atom BDM team and the broker self-service Quick Quote tool. With these improvements and competitive rates, Atom Bank aims to facilitate SMEs in accessing vital financing during these economically testing times.
David Castling, head of intermediary distribution at Atom Bank, said: “We’re delighted we have been able to cut rates across our RLS and standard secured loan range as we also expand our broker panel. Faced with economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, it’s vital that small business owners are able to get a quick financing decision through their broker, and crucially, at a competitive rate.
“We quickly took action to protect service levels by announcing a stop to new business applications in March. It was essential to take a considered approach with our return to market and we have been re-engaging with brokers on our panel through multiple phases since April. I am absolutely delighted with the level of activity and support we have seen so far and I’m excited to announce the next phase of 50 firms being reintroduced to our panel.
“We took time while off-sale to innovate and improve our processes, to make applying for a loan faster and easier for our brokers. We believe the changes we have made to our underwriting process recently will be transformative, drastically reducing the time it takes to review cases.”
