Same-day business funding: what is realistic and what moves fastest

Same day business funding is realistic for a narrow set of cases and unrealistic for most others. Two different things have to happen: the lender has to decide, and the money has to reach your account. The second is fast. Pay.UK, which runs the Faster Payment System, says it is available day and night, 365 days a year, and supports payments of up to £1 million, though each bank sets its own limits.

The decision is the slow part. A lender has to confirm who you are, who owns the business, how it trades and whether it can afford the repayments, and for some products value an asset or a property. The less there is to check, the faster it goes.

Timescales vary by lender and applicant. The table shows the stages each product needs, which is what decides whether it can move quickly. It is a general guide, not any lender's terms.

Our guide to short-term business loans explains the products at the top of the table in more detail.

Most delays come from the applicant's side, and most can be avoided:

• Missing documents. Bank statements with gaps, accounts not yet filed, or management figures that do not match the bank.
• Ownership questions. Shareholders or directors not matching Companies House, or a guarantor who cannot be reached.
• Identity checks that fail. A changed address or name that does not match the credit file.
• Signatures. Agreements and guarantees left unsigned because a director is away.
• Existing charges. A lender's debenture already on the company may need its consent.
• Applying too big. Above a lender's automated limit, a case goes to a person, and that takes longer.

Connecting your bank account through open banking can replace uploading statements and is one reason some online lenders can decide quickly.

1. Pick a product that does not need a valuation or legal work.
2. Keep the amount within what the lender funds without a manual review.
3. Have six to twelve months of business bank statements ready, or be ready to connect open banking.
4. Check the details at Companies House match who owns and runs the business.
5. Make sure every director who must sign or guarantee is available that day.
6. Check your eligibility first with a soft search, so a hard search only happens on an application likely to fit.

Our page on soft and hard credit checks explains why the last step matters if you are approaching several lenders in a hurry.

These lenders publish short-term unsecured loans or revenue-based advances, the products that need the fewest checks. The table is built from their profiles in our lender directory, in alphabetical order. Their profiles do not record any lender's speed claims, and this is not a ranking.

• 365 Finance, Liberis and YouLend publish revenue-based finance repaid as a share of sales for a fixed cost agreed at the start, which suits businesses taking card payments. Our page on merchant cash advances explains how this works.
• Bizcap says its loans need at least 4 months' trading and monthly revenue of at least £12,000, with daily or weekly repayments.
• Cubefunder and Swiftfund publish terms of 3 to 12 months; Swiftfund says a personal guarantee from a shareholder is typically required.
• Funding Alternative publishes business cash advances of £15,000 to £250,000, typically over 3 to 9 months.
• Little Business Loans publishes loans up to £20,000 for up to 12 months, and SimplyFunded fixed terms of up to 26 weeks.

For a wider view of lenders offering terms of a year or less, see our guide to short-term business loan lenders.

Speed usually costs more. Short-term unsecured and revenue-based products are priced for the lender's higher risk and lighter checks, and many quote a fixed fee or factor rate in place of an annual interest rate. Over a short term, that can mean a high annual cost even when the fee looks modest.

A “business payday loan” has no special protection. The FCA's cost cap on high-cost short-term credit, which limits charges to 0.8% a day and total charges to no more than the amount borrowed, applies to regulated credit agreements. Under article 60C of the Regulated Activities Order, credit above £25,000 for business purposes is exempt from regulation, and lending to a limited company is generally outside it, so most business funding is not covered by the cap.

If no lender can decide in time, look at what does not need a new credit decision:

• An existing business overdraft or credit card limit.
• Asking a key customer to pay early, or a supplier for more time.
• For a tax bill, contacting HMRC about Time to Pay before the deadline.
• Funding a single unpaid invoice through invoice finance.

Our guide to how to get a business loan covers the full application process. You can also check your funding options with Capzy using a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A lender's full application may involve a hard search, and all funding is subject to status and lender criteria.