At Bionic, we leverage smart technology to simplify business comparisons, and our finance partner, Think Business Loans, does the same for business loan comparisons. By understanding your business and funding needs, Think Business Loans utilizes advanced technology and smart data to match you with thousands of potential lenders and finance options. During the comparison process, you'll receive details on your eligibility and available loan amounts. A soft credit check is conducted to determine this, ensuring your credit score remains unaffected. Once you select a preferred lender, we handle the rest. If you proceed with the application, the lender will perform a hard credit check, which will be recorded on your credit file. Think Business Loans collaborates only with responsible lenders, requiring proof of your business’s turnover and financial stability for underwriting. Smart technology streamlines this process—simply upload your supporting documents or connect via OpenBanking for a quick decision. Once your application is in progress, you can track its status and communicate with lenders through Think Business Loans’ online client portal. Apple users can also receive updates via the iOS app.
Let the team at Think know how much you need to borrow and what you’ll use the finance for. They’ll use smart data to find out more about your business.
The team at Think will compare different loans from a panel of providers – including high street banks and alternative lenders - to find the right finance for your business.
Think’s tech-enabled team will answer any questions and take care of your application to help improve the chances of your application being approved.
While there’s no fixed criteria for business loans, lenders typically
consider the following factors before approving funding:
Turnover vs Loan Amount – Ideally, the loan should be around 30% of
your annual turnover.
Trading History – A track record of at least 18 months demonstrates
experience and reduces risk.
Credit History – No serious adverse credit. However, settled CCJs may
be considered if the business is profitable.
Business Location – The business must be based in the UK.
Homeownership Status – Whether the directors are homeowners can
influence the loan amount offered.
Think compares business loans for companies of all sizes and across various
industries, including microbusinesses, small businesses, and larger
enterprises. Here are some examples of businesses we can help secure
financing for:
Agriculture – Farming equipment can be expensive and quickly
outdated. We help farmers secure funding for expansion, new equipment, and
other needs.
Dental Practices – Whether you're looking to purchase a new practice,
expand an existing one, or invest in advanced equipment, we can help find
financing tailored to your needs.
IT Software & Technology – With the rapid advancement of technology,
businesses need to invest in cutting-edge hardware and software. Our expert
team can help secure the right financing solutions.
Nursing & Care Homes – Running a care home can be costly, especially
with the medical technology and high level of care required. We assist in
finding financial support to keep your business running smoothly.
With a tech-driven approach, Think simplifies the process of finding the
right lender and financing option, taking the stress out of securing
business funding.
Our finance division over at Think work with a panel of trusted lenders to find the right finance solution for your business, including high street banks, challenger banks, and alternative lenders.
High street banks are major retail banks with physical branch locations nationwide and, in some cases, globally. As the name suggests, they have a strong high street presence and include well-known names like RBS, NatWest, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Santander, Clydesdale, and Metro Bank. These banks provide a variety of business finance options, including commercial mortgages, asset finance, secured and unsecured loans, factoring, and invoice finance. The amount you can borrow depends on the type of loan, your credit score, and your financial situation. While high street banks often offer competitive rates, it's always beneficial to compare options from challenger banks and alternative lenders to find the best deal.
Challenger banks are smaller, less well-established banks that don’t have a high street presence. But just because you’ve never heard of them, it doesn’t mean they’re not a viable option. We only work with reputable lenders, and in order to be defined as a ‘bank’, the company must be authorised to accept retail deposits by the UK finical regulator the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Challenger banks can often only be approached via an intermediary or finance broker, and our close working relationship with our panel of lenders means we may be able to negotiate favourable rates for your business.
Alternative lenders are those that work outside of the normal banking system, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders. P2P lenders bypass banks by using a lending platform to directly match with borrowers.
All business loans are subject to credit and affordability checks, but if your application is successful, you could get your funds within 24 to 36 hours. The timing can vary depending on the type of loan you’ve applied for. Secured loans, for instance, often take longer to process.
To make sure the application process runs as quickly and smoothly as possible, it helps if you can get any supporting documents across as quickly as possible.
The amount you can borrow will depend on your credit score and the affordability of your business loan. Think will compare a range of business loans and talk you through your options to help you find a loan that fits your needs and budget.
The rate you’re offered will vary according to your business credit rating, how much you want to borrow and for how long, as well as the lender and type of loan you choose. Get in touch with Think’s tech-enabled team for a personalised business loans comparison.
Open Banking is a clever piece of tech that allows you to share your basic bank account information with lenders who will use it as part of their underwriting process (this is when they work out how much a lending risk your business is before making a final decision on whether to lend to you).
This will depend upon the type of business loan you have taken out and the lender providing it. Although some lenders are flexible, others might insist you stick to the fixed monthly repayment schedule. If you do repay early, you’ll be given a settlement figure which will usually be for more than the amount you owe, as the lender will want to recoup some of the interest repayments it will miss out on as you’re not taking the loan over the full term. If this is a concern, please tell your lending manager and they will be able to help.
If your application is accepted, you’re not under any obligation to take out a business loan until you’ve signed the credit agreement with your lender. But bear in mind that when you complete a full application with a lender, a record of your application will appear on your business credit file. If you make too many applications in a short space of time, this can have a negative impact on your credit score.
To help you find the right business finance, Think will compare business loans from a panel of trusted lenders. If you were to go to each directly, that could take days of work and risk damaging your credit score, as not all will quote for finance without first running a credit check. But Think does things differently. Lending managers are equipped with cutting-edge tech to compare loans and help you find the right one for your business.