Banks are facing mounting pressure to deliver faster and more accurate credit decisions while keeping risk exposure under control and improving customer outcomes. This pressure stems from several competing forces that are reshaping the lending landscape.
Businesses expect near-instant decisions, quick approvals, seamless onboarding, and tailored financial solutions. At the same time, digital-first challengers built on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and automation are winning market share with data-driven decision-making. Regulatory scrutiny adds further pressure, as lenders must ensure fair customer outcomes and prevent excessive risk exposure in a fragile global economy. Traditional manual processes only add to the problem, driving up operational costs, slowing time to value, and leaving banks vulnerable to errors and customer attrition.
To help banks overcome these challenges, FullCircl has introduced ProBanker, a new solution providing real-time visibility into commercial credit risk, affordability, and liquidity across the UK lending market.
The cost of incomplete credit visibility
The commercial lending environment in the UK is increasingly complex, with shifting national insurance rates, tariffs, labour costs, and business rates. SMEs alone are expected to need more than £70bn in financing by 2030, but banks are struggling to keep pace.
One key issue is missed opportunities from declined applications. According to the British Business Bank, there are more than 5.5m SMEs in the UK, with 30% seeking funding over the past three years.
That equates to around 1.7m businesses. Yet more than half of those rejected by banks never approach alternative lenders, highlighting a vast pool of untapped potential revenue.
Limited credit visibility also leaves lenders vulnerable to hidden risks. A recent case study revealed a tier 1 bank uncovered a £350m exposure to struggling businesses due to incomplete risk assessment.
Without full oversight of customer debts, liquidity, and repayment capacity, banks risk regulatory breaches and financial losses.
The customer experience is also at stake. FullCircl’s research found 38% of customers abandon the account opening process, with banks underestimating the true drop-off rate. Poor visibility prevents lenders from tailoring solutions, accelerating onboarding, or building lasting relationships, ultimately undermining retention and growth.
The risks of multi-banking
Around 70% of UK businesses work with multiple banks, further complicating risk management. This fragmentation creates blind spots for lenders in several areas:
Reduced visibility: With only part of the picture, banks cannot fully assess affordability or overall exposure.
Slower decisions: Fragmented data delays assessments, increasing time to funding for businesses and slowing banks’ return on value.
Missed opportunities: Without a complete overview, lenders fail to identify funding gaps or evolving customer needs.
Increased risk: Insufficient visibility hampers accurate risk mitigation and could result in regulatory non-compliance.
How FullCircl ProBanker helps
Developed with Experian, ProBanker provides banks with an integrated view of customer indebtedness, affordability, and credit risk across multiple lenders. Its goal is to help financial institutions better manage risk, unlock growth opportunities, and deliver improved financial solutions.
Key features include:
Cash positions: Insights into balances, inflows, outflows, and rejected payments for stronger liquidity analysis.
Product profiles: Detailed breakdown of debt across credit products to understand borrowing behaviour.
Credit account data: Comprehensive view of balances, repayment records, and exposure to assess creditworthiness.
Search history: Visibility into historic credit enquiries to identify businesses seeking finance.
Continuous monitoring: Near real-time alerts on financial changes such as rising debt or liquidity issues.
With ProBanker, FullCircl is positioning banks to gain a first-mover advantage by transforming complex data into actionable insights for smarter lending decisions throughout the customer lifecycle.
Read more information on ProBanker here.
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