The US and European alternative lending markets sprouted quickly in 2015, but the Australian players are just planting their roots. One of the latest to do so is Waddle, a small business financing platform that caught media attention a few times this year, most notably when it teamed up with SME accounting firm QuickBooks to bridge small business customers managing their finances on QuickBooks with more working capital — via Waddle — to manage.
Waddle Cofounder and Director Leigh Dunsford offered PYMNTS a look into his views on Australia’s current state of alternative small business lending and where the industry on a global scale is likely headed.
Australia’s Alt-Lending Awakening
For many, 2015 was the year of alt-lending in Australia. Several players made their debut on the market and not just those that had already established operations overseas. Local players like Kikka and ThinCats are giving the competition a run for their money.
But according to Dunsford, the growth spurt has left one area of small business lending unfulfilled in the nation.
“The surge of lenders entering the market in Australia has been dominated by unsecured business lenders offering fixed-term loans,” he explained. “We’ve seen a few lenders pioneer this space in the last three years, followed by new lenders in the past 12 months coming online, driven by overseas lenders licensing their software or partnering with local entrepreneurs to grab hold of market share.”
Waddle, Dunsford added, is looking to stand out from the crowd as Australia’s first and only online lender to provide SMEs with automated, receivables-based invoice financing.
The company, which offers revolving lines of credit to borrowers, has made its mark largely by partnering with cloud accounting firms (like QuickBooks and MYOB BankLink). Crucial to its success so far, said Dunsford, is FinTech innovation.
Technology Fuels The Innovation Fire
“Invoice finance has historically been plagued with higher administration both for the lender and the borrower,” the cofounder said. “However, growth of cloud computing has enabled an almost completely automated lending process within Waddle.”