Paragon Bank raises auto-decisioning limit to £150,000 for SME loans

Paragon Bank has increased the threshold for automatic lending decisions in its SME Lending division from £100,000 to £150,000, expanding access to faster, streamlined finance for small and medium-sized businesses.

The change, effective immediately, allows a greater number of loan applications – specifically for hard assets under hire purchase or finance lease products – to be processed using Paragon’s automated credit decisioning tools. This move is a key part of the bank’s ongoing digital transformation strategy aimed at improving customer experience and operational efficiency.

John Phillipou, Managing Director of SME Lending at Paragon Bank, said the higher limit reflects both investment in technology and a commitment to meeting the evolving needs of UK SMEs.

“Raising the auto-decisioning limit to £150,000 reflects our ongoing investment in technology and a deeper understanding of our customers’ needs,” Phillipou said. “This change allows us to support more SMEs, more quickly, while still maintaining robust credit controls.”

The announcement follows a wider trend in SME finance, with challenger and specialist lenders – like Paragon – playing an increasingly prominent role. According to the British Business Bank, specialist banks accounted for a record 60% of gross lending to smaller businesses in 2024, as major high street banks scale back SME lending.

Paragon’s investment in automation, artificial intelligence, and data-driven processes is helping reduce friction in the loan application process. While the updated threshold increases the number of applications qualifying for instant decisions, the bank is also using insights from these processes to improve the speed and accuracy of manually reviewed applications.