According to a collaborative study issued by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, KPMG, and the ACFS, Australia’s alternative finance sector grew by 53% from 2015 to 2016. Australia has surpassed Japan as the Asia-second Pacific’s largest alternative lending market (behind China). Outside of China, Australia currently accounts for 30.42 per cent of the entire market in the Asia Pacific, far outstripping South Korea (US dollar $376.31 million) and Japan (US dollar $398.45 million). But what’s alternative lending, and what are the advantages of alternative lending in Australia?
What is alternative lending, and how does it work?
Offering loans outside of established channels is known as alternative lending. Alternative lenders may be able to offer more flexible lending terms, allowing more people to be eligible for business loans.
Do you have a poor credit history? Don’t worry!
Banks can be difficult to work with if you’re a small firm or a startup. Forty-three per cent of companies that ask for bank funding are either denied or receive less than they require. Alternative financing procedures, on the whole, are less concerned with your credit history. Factoring is no different. Your credit history isn’t even considered during the application procedure. Your credit record is meaningless because invoice factoring businesses purchase your invoices and never give you their own money. Rather, the credit of your borrowers is taken into account.
It’s quick.
Many alternative lending companies can provide cash flow options within days of receiving your request. Factoring providers will deposit debt-free cash into your account within three to five days of deciding to deal with you. That’s better than the 45-90 days you’d have to wait for the debtors to start repaying their debts!
Paperwork is reduced.
You normally don’t have to fill out quite as much documentation when applying for alternative loans. This relates to the looser requirements for approval. For example, if you take out a commercial cash advance, a lender may be more interested in your prior sales numbers than your bank statements or asset valuations.
Approval Probability Is Increased
The most significant benefit of alternative credit is that it increases one’s authorisation chances. Being a new entrepreneur with no experience or a proven track record of success is one of the most difficult situations. In reality, most banks consider those consumers “high-risk” and refuse to lend to them. Large banks have long been a leader in corporate financing; therefore, they can manage to do so. Given the continued demand in the industry, refusing tens of thousands of applications will not be an issue for them.
Variety of loans
The majority of commercial loans have the same framework: monthly bills, an interest rate, and a pre-determined amount that must be repaid by the end of the period. This is not possible for organisations in volatile industries. Alternative finance, fortunately, comes in various forms, most of which are adaptable.
The application process for alternative credit is based on substantially less stringent conditions. Even if you don’t have any prior expertise or a good track record, you can still receive the money you need. Of course, they’ll have to pay slightly higher interest on the loan to reimburse the alternative lender. Nevertheless, most business people accept the higher APR in exchange for the funds they need to start the project.
If you want to start your own business, you should look into alternative lending in Australia. This could save you time, labour, and even money in the long run. It may also enable you to achieve your long-held ambition of becoming a business owner.