Funding Circle

Funding Circle Limited (FRN 722513) is a UK SME lender founded in 2010 and directly authorised by the FCA (not an Appointed Representative). The parent group, Funding Circle Holdings plc, is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The platform's retail peer-to-peer (P2P) investor offering — and the retail secondary market — were permanently closed to new investments on 10 March 2022. New originations are now funded by institutional investors and Funding Circle's own balance sheet rather than by individual retail investors.

Company reporting cites assets under management of approximately £3.0 billion as of December 2025 and cumulative originations of around £17bn to date. Historically the group also operated in the US, Germany and the Netherlands, but has since concentrated on the UK market.

For borrowers, SMEs apply online and are underwritten by Funding Circle's internal credit models. Borrower pricing — including completion and transaction fees — is disclosed at application and varies by product. Payment products such as the Cashback business credit card are distributed in partnership with authorised e-money/payment firms (e.g. Modulr FS Limited, Monavate Ltd), which are the regulated issuers for those services.

For investors, individual retail investors in the UK can no longer make new investments via the Funding Circle platform. Lending is funded through forward-flow arrangements, warehouse facilities, securitisation and balance-sheet capital. The platform therefore no longer publishes retail minimums, a retail fee schedule, or a platform-run secondary market.

The current product set focuses on SME credit and business payments:

• Business term loans — unsecured and secured loans to UK SMEs, priced and sized case-by-case.
• FlexiPay — a revolving line of credit and transaction-based facility for managing cashflow and spreading supplier payments.
• Cashback business credit card — issued in partnership with authorised e-money/payment providers.

Revenue now comes primarily from borrower fees and servicing/institutional funding arrangements. Historical retail-investor return statistics relate to the pre-2022 P2P model and are not indicative of the current institutional lending programme.

Borrowers: UK SMEs (limited companies and LLPs) seeking working capital, cashflow facilities or business payment products.

Investors: the UK origination book is now funded by institutional investors and the company's balance sheet. Individual retail investors cannot start new positions through the platform and cannot rely on a platform-run secondary market to exit legacy retail loan parts.

Strengths: long operating history (since 2010), substantial cumulative originations, experienced SME underwriting and servicing, and diversified institutional funding lines that support consistency of lending availability.

Risks:

• Liquidity for legacy retail investors — the retail platform and secondary market closed in March 2022, removing the platform-provided exit route for remaining retail loan parts.
• Clone-firm warnings — the FCA has published warnings about scammers impersonating Funding Circle; verify any communication via the FCA Register (FRN 722513).
• Historical FOS complaints relating to the pre-closure retail operation (defaults, recoveries, liquidity); some were not upheld where Funding Circle was found to have met its obligations.
• Credit risk — as with any non-deposit SME lending, defaults and recoveries are the primary drivers of investor outcomes.

FSCS: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme does not cover investments in loans or e-money in the way it covers bank deposits. Funds held with e-money partners are subject to safeguarding rules, not FSCS deposit protection.

• Retail closure (10 March 2022) is the single most important change — no new retail investments and no platform-managed exit route for legacy loan parts.
• Don't extrapolate pre-2022 retail return and default statistics to the current institutionally funded book.
• Verify communications against the FCA Register (FRN 722513) to avoid clone firms impersonating Funding Circle.
• Some externally circulated claims (e.g. specific index membership or securitisation counts beyond company reporting) could not be verified from supplied material and should be treated as unverified.