UK-based bank payment company GoCardless has rolled out a new service that provides direct access to capital funding for small business customers via its platform.

The British firm partners with embedded finance FinTech Pipe for the rollout.

Customers will have access to cash advances without the need for personal guarantees or credit checks, which means businesses will be able to access capital in less than one or two working days.

GoCardless said that this approach is particularly important for micro and ethnic minority businesses, many of which may not have the business history or credit score required by traditional financing.

GoCardless currently has a customer base of nearly 100,000 companies, from start-ups to household names, that use the platform to collect and send payments via direct debit, real-time payments, and Open Banking.

According to its website, the platform processes more than $130 billion in payments each year in more than 30 countries.

The launch of ‘capital powered by Pipe’ follows a pilot programme which saw £13.3 million advanced to 844 GoCardless merchants in nine months.

“This capital allowed these businesses to invest in growth, enabling them to upgrade equipment, expand services, increase marketing and strengthen their teams, all without the obstacles of traditional financing,” said GoCardless.

Jolawn Victor, chief growth officer of GoCardless said that according to the company's data, more than half of small businesses suffer from late payments in the UK.

“With the launch of capital powered by Pipe, we can go a step further to offer Pipe’s fast, easy-to-access financing directly within our platform,” he said. “This will provide merchants another way to strengthen their finances, ultimately giving them more opportunities to grow.”

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