About the client
GC Business Finance (GCBF) is a non-profit loan provider dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized businesses in Greater Manchester. By offering various loan options to businesses that have been turned down by traditional lenders, GCBF stimulates economic growth and fosters employment opportunities in the region.
Business challenge
GCBF’s cumbersome manual business loan processes
GCBF realised the constraints in their internal processes for managing customers' loan applications:
- the system was predominantly manual, making it cumbersome and resource-intensive.
- there was a lack of online digital options and process automation in the CDFI sector.
Taking the lead in this space, GCBF decided to initiate digital transformation and engaged GoodCore to develop a custom loan management solution.
During the software development, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and prompted the UK government's Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), which was introduced as a response to the financial challenges faced by businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For lenders like GCBF, efficient processes became crucial to quickly evaluate and disburse loans to businesses impacted by the pandemic.
The solution
Enabling an automated business loan disbursement
The system had to fulfil the following critical business requirements:
- Automate GCBF's loan approval and disbursement process for eligible candidates
- Optimise the registration and application process for the applicants
- Implement security and GDPR-compliant data handling measures to meet finance sector regulations
- Enable mobile optimisation to enhance operational mobility for clients using tablets and smartphones
- Be operational within a few weeks, given the time-sensitive and urgent nature of BBLS
The solution
Loan management system overview
GoodCore delivered a custom loan management platform for GCBF, with all the urgent changes implemented within a tight timeframe. The solution fully aligns with the BBLS and covers the entire loan lifecycle.
The system comprises of:
- Customer-facing web portal that simplifies applications with automated eligibility checks, streamlined forms, and payment management.
- Backend admin panel empowers GCBF decision-makers (loan administrators, loan managers, and loan approvers) for application processing and reporting.
Since GCBF partners with other organisations for different types of business loans, the system has been developed as white-label software.
The solution - Customer portal features
Automating workflows with robust features
Eligibility check and registration
- System auto-determines eligibility, using predefined criteria uploaded to the portal
- Automated credit checks are implemented through a relevant credit reference agency, with integrated responses
- The permission to create an account is only granted to applicants who pass credit scoring
- Ineligible borrowers are automatically redirected to partner organizations for financial aid
The solution - Customer portal features
Automating workflows with robust features
Application creation and submission
- Streamlined form creation, divided into three logical parts for user-friendly input while gathering crucial personal and business details (e.g., business identity, plans, cash flow forecasts)
- Business data is automatically populated via the Companies House API, streamlining tasks like obtaining director consent
The solution - Customer portal features
Automating workflows with robust features
Self-service customer portal
Through the self-service portal, applicants can:
- Auto-make loan repayments thanks to the Equiniti integration
- View their payment history
- Check pending payments
- Review loan agreement terms
The solution - Admin panel features
Automating workflows with robust features
Application management workflow
The system ensures a proper and streamlined review process from GCBF staff where all the parts are aligned in the process:
- Loan administrators check for application completeness and correctness.
- Loan managers conduct deeper reviews and draft recommendation reports.
- Final decision of approval or rejection is given by loan approvers.
The solution - Admin panel features
Automating workflows with robust features
Role-based access
Enhances data security and reduces data leakage risks:
- Backend access varies by GCBF staff roles
- Ensures the correct and logical loan application approval process
Security and audit trail
Audit trails (event logs) maintain compliance with financial regulations, by ensuring transparency and security against fraud:
- Activities by GCBF staff are timestamped and detailed
- Only authorised users can access audit trails
We’re not in IT or an experienced digital company, so their support was key to making sure that our staff got the most out of the system that they built for us.
Peter Treadwell, Operations Director
GC Business Finance
The impact
- We helped GCBF with their digital transformation initiative, making them one of the first Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) to digitise loan management.
- Since its 2019 launch, the solution has streamlined loan applications for thousands of GCBF clients, thereby enhancing the loan processing capacity for GCBF significantly.
- In November 2020, powered by the bespoke platform we built, GC Business Finance became the first UK lender accredited by The British Business Bank to offer BBLS, facilitating our client's adaptation to the COVID-era business landscape.
- The system's white-label design allows other organisations to use it, offering GC Business Finance revenue potential through custom deployments.
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