The first ever business loan facilitated by ArchOver has been paid back in full, on time and without a single late payment by TruTac Limited, a specialist tachograph analytics company based in Coventry. The £100,000 loan, for a term of 24 months, delivering an interest rate of 5%, was taken out to replace an existing invoice financing facility with a view to reducing credit costs. Over the same period, lenders over the ArchOver platform have received interest payments totalling £10,000.12 exactly.

ArchOver chief executive Angus Dent commented: “Although having our first ever loan successfully repaid is a very satisfactory outcome for us, it also serves to illustrate just how well peer-to-peer business lending can work for ambitious SMEs trying to grow their businesses in a challenging economic environment. Here was a profitable, established business founded in 1994 that was being hit by punitive charges for finance and just needed a helping hand. We were able to provide a lending service that was quick, transparent and on terms that enhanced their bottom line. TruTac has subsequently grown by around 70%.”

“The fact that the 24 months has passed without incident, any arrears and not a single late payment bears testimony to the quality of ArchOver’s due diligence processes and underpins our ‘Secured and Insured’ proposition. It also goes some way towards answering those who criticise the sector for lax credit standards and failure to monitor outstanding loans, both of which we pride ourselves on. In the meantime, we have also been able to provide our lenders with what we believe to be a decent rate of return on their money.”

Terry Ramsey, TruTac’s managing director, commented: “The £100,000, two-year loan through ArchOver gave us exactly what we needed. It enabled us to escape invoice financers and gave us control of our own destiny.”

“Our experience with ArchOver has proved to be the complete opposite to that we had with invoice financers. Sometimes we hardly know it was there. It was very hassle-free.”