FAQ’s
Frequently Asked Questions
Fees
Findango charges a commission on any successful deals introduced over the platform, which the Borrower has uploaded. The amount of the commission is 0.25% of the total loan amount contractually agreed between the borrowing entity and the Lender.
The commission is payable by the Borrower on drawdown of the loan. The fee is typically deducted from the initial loan advance and collected by the Lender, who then remits the fee to Findango upon being presented with an invoice. The invoice is addressed to the Borrower.
There is no cost to Lenders, as the commission is payable by the Borrower on drawdown of the loan (see “How does Findango generate revenue?”).
Yes, they do, albeit a limited one.
Once a Borrower publishes a lending opportunity on the platform, Findango is granted a minimum exclusivity period of six months on that specific lending opportunity. Furthermore, this exclusivity only applies to the Lenders who are registered on Findango. In other words, Borrowers are free to approach unconnected third-party lenders who are not registered on Findango, with respect to that published lending opportunity.
In addition, where a Borrower was negotiating with a registered Findango Lender on a lending opportunity before it was published on the platform, then a commission will not be payable. Further details can be found in our terms and conditions.
Relationship with Borrowers and Lenders
A Lending Opportunity is the presentation of a Borrower’s lending requirement on the platform. As it is the Lender that carries out searches on Findango, it is described in this manner as Lenders will view a Borrower’s deal as an opportunity to lend.
Regulated lending is not permitted on the platform. For this reason, any borrowing entity must either be a limited company or a limited partnership. The borrowing entity must also not be acting as a trustee.
No, we will not. Findango is purely an introductory / matching tool and any due diligence on the Borrower and the lending opportunity will be carried out by the Lender. It should be noted that prior to any lending opportunity being uploaded, Findango will check that the content is appropriate and in line with how the platform should be used. We will, however, provide Borrowers with assistance and guidance in uploading lending opportunities.
One-to-one support will be available to Borrowers to assist with completing and uploading a lending opportunity. That said, the template is user-friendly and contains tips and help-boxes to aid with the process. User guides can also be found on the platform.
As part of the online registration process, Borrowers must accept our terms and conditions of use and acknowledge that they have read and understood them.
The process is carried out off-line, whereby a short-form bespoke cover letter (known as an “Offer Letter”) is drafted and attached to our terms and conditions. The Offer Letter must be agreed and executed before a Lender has access to the platform.
A key element of the contract is that the Lender will collect our commission from the initial loan advance. This will then be remitted to Findango upon the presentation of an invoice which is addressed to the Borrower.
Yes. As with any business, Findango will need to comply with relevant legislation around anti-money laundering. The process is carried out at the point the Borrower is ready to publish their lending opportunity on the platform. As a minimum, we need to be provided with details on the directors, members and ultimate beneficial owners of the borrowing entity. Further information could be requested depending on the responses. Please also see “What’s the process for publishing a lending opportunity?”.
Yes. As with any business, Findango will need to comply with relevant legislation around anti-money laundering. For Lenders who are regulated, the process can be carried out in-house. If a Lender is not regulated, then we will need to be provided (as a minimum) with details on the directors, members and ultimate beneficial owners, as well as a satisfactory description on how their lending is funded. Further information could be requested depending on the responses.
No, we are purely an introductory / matching tool. We’re also aware that most Lenders have their own processes or platforms for deal execution and a preference that the majority of correspondence at that stage is between lawyers.
The platform does provide a tool called “Dealflow”, which enables a Lender to show a Borrower what the key deal execution tasks are, provide real-time visibility on who is responsible for each task, and generate a draft statement of net advance. Approval of quotes for the Lender’s professional team can also be made using Dealflow.
It is however, solely down to the Lender on whether this tool is used for a lending opportunity.
The template and the tips / help boxes, provide guidance on what information should be uploaded onto the platform. We are also happy to assist with any queries which a Borrower may have.
Overall, Borrowers will find that the information they provide is specific to the deal, their experience and track record. A Lender may ask for personal data to be provided to them, such as an asset and liability statement. There is no obligation to provide this via the platform and such sensitive information should be provided directly to the Lender.
Using the platform
Once a Borrower has completed the template and uploaded attachments, it can apply to publish the lending opportunity on the platform. Findango will (during business hours) check that the content is appropriate and in line the use terms. Findango will also carry out its onboarding process on the borrowing entity (please see “Will Borrowers be subject to an onboarding process”).
In order to speed up the process, Borrowers can ask Findango to carry out the onboarding process prior to the lending opportunity being ready for publication. This can be requested over the phone, or by emailing support@findango.loans.
We reserve the right to decline an application for legal, compliance or other reasons. Where we do so (and to the extent we are permitted by law) we will explain our reason for doing so.
If the application to publish a lending opportunity is approved, then it will become accessible to all the Lenders on the platform when they make their searches.
No. Only the Borrower receiving the indicative offers will be able to view them.
Only one offer per lending opportunity can be accepted by a Borrower on the platform. However, this is conditional on all the interested lenders for that lending opportunity, using the platform to make their indicative lending offer (please see “Are Lenders obligated to use all the tools of the platform?). We will maintain close relationships with all the Lenders on our platform and would expect to be informed whenever an indicative lending offer off-platform has been accepted. If this occurs, we will ensure the platform is updated with this information.
No. We do encourage Lenders to use all the functionality of Findango, as we believe this will create the best user experience for Borrowers (and Lenders). It is not however obligatory. We do ask that, at a minimum, any initial correspondence is made using the platform. If a Lender subsequently wishes to correspond with the Borrower or make an indicative lending offer off-platform we have no objection. There is also no obligation to use the Dealflow process.
If a lending opportunity is successfully drawn and completed we do ask that the Lender confirms this on the platform.
Borrowers and Lenders can set up multiple users if necessary. At least one user will need to be the “administrator”.
The administrator(s) for a Borrower will have access to all the lending opportunities which have been created by the users of that Borrower. All other users will only be able to access the lending opportunities which they themselves have created.
The administrator(s) for a Lender will have access to all the lending opportunities which have been added to the Lender’s portal by all the users for that Lender. All other users will only be able to access the lending opportunities which they themselves have added to the Lender’s portal.
Brokers
In the future, it is intended to provide Brokers with access to the platform. Presently however, our focus is on providing a high-quality service to Borrowers. Any Brokers admitted to the platform in future will be subject to an onboarding process. Furthermore, the platform will be able to indicate any lending opportunities which have been uploaded by Brokers.
Please register your interest with us, in order to be kept up to date with any news or announcements. If you would like a demonstration of the platform, or would like to have an in-depth discussion about it, please call us or email contact@findango.loans. We’re always open to ideas on how we can best work with each other.