NatWest is considered one of the big four clearing banks in the UK, with over 960 branches across Great Britain. Operating under the name Esme Loans, NatWest provides a digital lending platform for small to medium enterprises (SME). Esme Loans was founded out of the bank’s new product development program NatWest Innovation.
Soldo is a multi-user business expenses solution including Mastercard prepaid cards, a mobile user app and web console that automates expense reporting while giving businesses control over how and where employees and departments can spend company money.
Soldo operates in the prepaid business expense card space, which allows companies the ability to offer the equivalent of a corporate expense card to their employees. But rather than being a credit card, it is funded by the company utilizing prepaid debit card functionality.
Through the new partnership, Soldo users will be able to apply for swift business loans of up to £250,000 via Esme Loans; or choose to borrow up to £500,000 as a flexible line of credit against unpaid invoices via Rapid Cash. Both services will be available directly from within Soldo’s desktop app.
Andy Ellis, Head of NatWest Ventures says: “As one of the UK’s biggest banks for SMEs, we’re extremely keen to work with anyone that offers a unique, simple experience that makes it easier for our customers to run and grow their business.”
The deal with Soldo follows Rapid Cash’s integration with cloud-based accountancy software provider Xero in November, and is the latest fintech that Esme Loans has joined forces with over the past 12 months.
Overview by Sue Brown, Director, Prepaid Advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group
