Nationwide scoops £50m prize for small business lending
Nationwide has won the latest round of funding from a high-profile grant designed to boost small business lending in the UK, pocketing the top £50m prize.
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Investec and the Co-operative Bank were also named as winners, taking home £15m each.
The awards, handed out by The Board of Banking Competition Remedies (BCR), are part of a £775m fund set up with cash from RBS after its bailout following the financial crash in 2008.
The latest payout came from the organisation’s Capability and Innovation Fund, designed to boost competition in business lending by granting awards to challenger banks.
But the results will come as a blow to digital bank Monzo, which was last year deemed eligible for the prize and hotly-tipped to take home a share of the spoils.
Nationwide and Investec both welcomed the award and vowed to match the funding to launch new products and services. The Co-op Bank said the funding will support its target to double its market share over the next five years.
“We look forward to these organisations delivering on their public commitments and to further announcements for Pools C and D in the coming months,” said BCR chairman Godfrey Cromwell.
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Earlier this year Metro Bank, Starling Bank and Clearbank shared a £280m in the grant’s first round of funding. The BCR will hand out two further grant pools worth £50m later this year.