Paragon Bank cuts SME lending approval time by 60%

Paragon Bank’s SME Lending division has announced a significant reduction in its average application processing time, driven by enhancements to its technological and operational capabilities, leading to an uplift in its conversion rate.

The processing time from application receipt to approval fell by 60% in 2024, primarily as a result of the continued expansion of the division’s automated decision engine, which not only enables certain applications to be auto-approved but also provides an ‘assisted underwriting’ outcome on every application.

This, combined with the recent expansion of the division’s Credit and Risk team, allows decisions to be reached in a much shorter timeframe and enables the sales and underwriting team to spend more time working on complex deals.

Faster processing has enabled Paragon to deliver record conversion rates, with the division reporting a 12% increase year-on-year in 2024.

SME Lending continues to be an area of significant growth for Paragon, with the division reporting lending of over £480 million last year, up 7.3% on the previous year.

John Phillipou, Managing Director of Paragon SME Lending, commented: “We’re delighted that the continued development of our technological capabilities, and the expansion of our Credit and Risk team is enabling us to deliver a significantly improved level of service for our Broker and Vendor partners, as well as our customers.

“We have some really exciting plans for the SME Lending division at Paragon over the coming years, and with the project to deliver our new back-office system now underway, we aim to continue to improve the service we are able to offer and help more SME businesses than ever before.”