How We Lend — Responsible Business Lender UK
How we decide as a responsible business lender
When you apply for a loan with Credicorp, this is exactly what happens behind the scenes — what we look at, what we do not look at, where a computer makes the first call and where a real person takes over.
Credicorp is a responsible business lender. We lend to UK limited companies and LLPs, not to consumers, and we lend to the company rather than to the director personally — there is no personal guarantee and no charge over your home. Every charge that can apply to a product is set out up front, with no hidden fees on our business loan.
We are required to be transparent about this under Article 22 of the UK GDPR. We also think it is the right thing to do — if you are trusting us with a decision that affects your business, you should be able to see how that decision is made. Being a responsible, transparent lender starts with showing our working in plain English.
Lending to limited companies sits outside FCA consumer-credit regulation, so we are not bound by the FCA Consumer Duty. We treat its fair-treatment outcomes as a voluntary benchmark anyway, because we think a fair, ethical lender should hold itself to that standard whether or not the rules require it.
What we look at when lending to limited companies
Tha gach iarrtas air a mheasadh air na fìrinnean a tha cudromach do cho-dhùnadh iasaid gnìomhachais geàrr-ùine. 'S iad na prìomh fheadhainn:
- Ruigsinneachd cosgais. We need to see that the loan can be repaid on the schedule offered. The strongest evidence is your last six months of business bank statements. We accept these in two ways — through an Open Banking connection (read-only, you stay in control) or as PDF statements uploaded straight into the application.
- Dàta iomraidh creideis. Sgrùdadh creideis gnìomhachais air a' chompanaidh aig Experian Business, Creditsafe agus Equifax Business. Cha ruith sinn sgrùdadh creideis luchd-cleachdaidh air an stiùiriche gu pearsanta airson a' cho-dhùnaidh iasaid.
- Sgrùdadh AML is smachd-bhannan. Sgrùdadh àbhaisteach an-aghaidh nigheadaireachd airgid is smachd-bhannan air an stiùiriche agus an companaidh. Tha seo a' dearbhadh gu bheil sinn a' dèiligeadh ris na daoine a tha sinn a' smaoineachadh a tha sinn a' dèiligeadh riutha agus nach eil an t-iasad ga chleachdadh airson dad nach eil cead againn iasad a thoirt air a shon.
- An eachdraidh agad còmhla rinn. Ma tha thu nad neach-ceannach a tha a' tilleadh, tha e cudromach mar a chaidh iasad roimhe còmhla rinn a riaghladh. Tha clàr pàighidh glan na chomharra dheimhinneach làidir.
- Comharran so-leòntachd. Ma tha dad san iarrtas no san eachdraidh agad a' moladh gum faodadh tu a bhith a' dol tro àm doirbh, bidh sinn a' slaodadh a' cho-dhùnaidh sìos agus ag iarraidh air duine a bhreithneachadh. 'S e an t-amas iasad a thoirt gu cunntachail, chan ann gu fèin-ghluasadach.
Air dè nach coimhead sinn
Tha mòran rudan a chumas sinn a-mach às a' cho-dhùnadh a dh'aon ghnothach oir chan eil iad nam bunait chothromach no chruinn airson iasad:
- Deamografaigs. Age (beyond the basic 18+ check), gender, ethnicity, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or any other protected characteristic is not a factor and never will be.
- Co-dhùnadh stèidhichte air còd-puist a-mhàin. Where your business is located is one signal among many — it informs registered-office checks and sanctions screening — but a decline does not happen because of a postcode.
- Meadhanan sòisealta. Cha bhi sinn a' sgrìobadh Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X no àrd-ùrlar sam bith eile airson comharran iarrtais. Chan eil a' phròifil shòisealta agad buntainneach a thaobh am bi sinn a' toirt iasad don ghnìomhachas agad.
- Fathann is beachd. Only the data described above goes into the file. Anything else — a rumour, a forwarded email, a third-party opinion — is not part of the assessment.
Breithneachadh fèin-ghluasadach is daonna
For straightforward applications, the first decision is automated. Our system reads the bank statements, runs the credit and AML checks, applies our policy rules, and produces an outcome within a few minutes. That is what lets us offer a same-day decision for most customers.
But automation is not the last word. Under Article 22 of the UK GDPR, you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing where that decision significantly affects you. We respect that by making every decline reviewable by a human on request, and by routing certain cases — vulnerability signals, returning customers with an unusual pattern, anything our system is unsure about — to a person from the start.
Your Article 22 right in one sentence
Ma tha an t-iarrtas agad air a dhiùltadh agus gum bu mhath leat duine a bhreithneachadh, faodaidh tu faighneachd — agus nì sinn sin. Tha an co-dhùnadh tùsail air a chur an dàrna taobh, bidh ball den sgioba creideis againn a' breithneachadh an fhaidhle bhon toiseach, agus gheibh thu toradh sgrìobhte ùr.
Gu h-aithghearr: a bheil an co-dhùnadh iasaid agam fèin-ghluasadach?.
Mar a chuireas tu an aghaidh co-dhùnaidh
Ma chaidh do dhiùltadh agus gu bheil thu airson coimhead air a-rithist, tha grunn shlighean agad:
- Fosgail iarrtas taice am broinn a' phortail luchd-ceannach.
- Cuir post-d no sgrìobh thugainn a' cleachdadh am fiosrachadh air an duilleag Cuir fios thugainn againn.
- Cuir fòn don sgioba creideis againn rè uairean oifis.
However you raise it, we will: acknowledge the request promptly, take the original decision off the table, ask a credit reviewer (a person, not the system) to look at the file with fresh eyes, and write to you with the outcome. Responsible lending means a no is never the end of the conversation — a human review is always open to you, at no cost, and we will explain the reasons behind the fresh outcome in plain English. We treat every challenge as a chance to check our own working, because a fair lender should be willing to be told it got something wrong.
Faodaidh tu cuideachd iarraidh air neach an co-dhùnadh agad ath-sgrùdadh.
Open Banking
Mar as trice bidh ceangal cunntas banca a' ghnìomhachais agad tro Open Banking a' luathachadh a' cho-dhùnaidh. Is urrainn dhuinn na h-aithrisean a leughadh gu dìreach, agus mar sin chan eil feitheamh ri luchdachadh PDF. Tha Open Banking na fhrèam riaghlaichte: tha an ceangal fiosrachaidh-cunntais airson leughadh a-mhàin, bidh thu ga ùghdarrachadh tron bhanca agad fhèin, agus faodaidh tu a chùl-ghairm uair sam bith. Chan urrainn don cheangal dàta sin airgead a ghluasad, pàighidhean a chur air dòigh no rud sam bith atharrachadh air a' chunntas.
Tha barrachd mion-fhiosrachaidh mun teicneòlas a chumas taic ri seo uile air an duilleag Our Technology againn. Tha fiosrachadh mu mar a làimhsicheas sinn luchd-iarrtais a tha a' dol tro àm doirbh air an duilleag Vulnerability againn. Tha na foillseachaidhean riaghlaidh slàn — prìobhaideachd, co-dhùnadh fèin-ghluasadach, pròiseasair Open Banking, dàta iomraidh creideis — air an duilleag Legal & Compliance againn.
Rach nas doimhne: an teicneòlas air cùl ar co-dhùnaidhean.
Common questions about how we lend
Is Credicorp an FCA-regulated lender UK?
Credicorp lends exclusively to UK limited companies and LLPs for business purposes. Business lending to companies falls outside FCA consumer-credit regulation (CONC/CCA 1974), so the FCA does not regulate this product as a consumer lender. We voluntarily benchmark against FCA fair-treatment outcomes because we believe it reflects the right standard for a responsible business lender.
Does Credicorp require a personal guarantee?
No. We lend to the company, not to the director personally. There is no personal guarantee and no charge over a director's personal assets or home. The company is the borrower; the assessment is on the company's affordability and creditworthiness.
Are there hidden fees on a Credicorp business loan?
No. Every charge that can apply to a product is stated up front in the Key Information Sheet before you sign. We do not add fees after drawdown that were not disclosed at origination. A no hidden fees business loan means the cost is what we say it is.
What does it mean to lend to the company not the director?
When we say we lend to the company, it means the borrowing entity is the limited company or LLP — not the individual director. Your personal credit file is not used in the lending decision (we run a business credit check on the company, not a personal one on you), and personal assets are not at risk under the loan terms.