Citadele Bank and a state-owned development finance institution ALTUM signed a contract that will allow small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to receive ALTUM portfolio guarantees in the near future.
Currently, Citadele offers SMEs the opportunity to get a Microloan without a pledge. Thanks to the automated evaluation process, decisions on clients’ Microloan applications are made within minutes. Clients qualifying for the ALTUM portfolio guarantee will be able to receive a larger amount of funding at a lower interest rate retaining the possibility to receive a decision of granting a loan within minutes and the funding itself – within one day.
Most often, SMEs take the Microloan for replenishment of the working capital and fixed assets, renovation of their business premises, for unexpected costs, etc. In 2019, companies applied for the Microloan provided by Citadele because of the need to increase current assets (67% of cases) and to buy equipment and other fixed assets (20% of cases).
Inese Zīle, member of the Management Board of ALTUM says, ‘Portfolio guarantees are a modern business support tool the use of which is gradually increasing, and we see that entrepreneurs appreciate both better financing conditions and the speed of provision of funding. That is why we highly value the automated customer service provided by Citadele Bank. With Citadele Bank joining the circle of partners under our portfolio guarantee programme, we can say for sure that financing for SMEs is becoming more accessible as well as faster and easier to obtain.’
‘ALTUM portfolio guarantees will enable us to provide Latvian SMEs with a larger Microloan amount without increasing the application evaluation time. The application process is hassle-free and, because of the automated evaluation process, clients will be able to receive the money in their account within one day,’ says Vladislavs Mironovs, member of the Management Board of Citadele Bank. ‘Cooperation with ALTUM will also enable the Bank to provide the Microloan to the companies which have not qualified for it before due to the lack of collateral,’ adds Mironovs.