Prospa, Australia’s #1 online lender to small business, congratulates the Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA) for today publishing the Code of Small Business Lending Practices (“the Code”).
The Code is the result of a four-month collaboration with industry stakeholders including:
- The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
- FinTech Australia and its members
- TheBankDoctor.org
The principles of the Code are as follows:
- We will be honest and ethical
- We will give you clear information about our loan products
- We will consider your financial circumstances when lending to you
- We will deliver high customer service and standards
- We will deal fairly with any complaints
- We will focus on our customers
- We will comply with our legal and industry obligations
- We will support and promote this code
Prospa Joint CEO, Beau Bertoli, said: “Prospa has worked closely with its industry peers to establish a practical Code that outlines best practice principles of online lending to small businesses.
“The Code is customer centric, outlines what customers can expect from their loans (and their lenders) and prescribes the use of consistent and comparative measures such as APRs and total loan costs across the industry. The Code will also be supported with an online tool facilitating apples-with-apples comparisons across products and lenders.
“Prospa is proud to be a signatory to the Code and we look forward to working with our peers to implement the initiatives identified.
The Code, supported by the online comparison tool, will make it easy for consumers to review and compare lending products. But it will also support lenders by centralising and simplifying obligations to various regulatory bodies, supporting industry-wide compliance.
The demand for online, unsecured small business lending continues to grow. Small businesses are a major contributor to the economy, with 2.2 million small businesses in Australia employing 44 per cent of Australia’s private sector workforce and generating 35 per cent of Australia’s GDP. These small businesses have been underserved by the traditional banking system, and are increasingly turning to online, unsecured lending to support their growth.
Prospa has a history of industry leadership and innovation, having funded its first loan in 2012, implemented same day loan approval capability in 2013 and implemented the first Australian small business loan securitisation in 2015.
The Code can be accessed from the dedicated webpage: AFIA.asn.au/aosbl
The media statement issued today in support of the Code can be found here.
