National Australia Bank (NAB) today announced it will introduce a new $50,000 unsecured business loan for Australian small businesses.

The NAB QuickBiz Loan, which has been developed by in-house innovation hub NAB Labs and will launch in early June, allows eligible customers to apply for up to $50,000 in funding via a new online application process.

The new online platform uses NAB’s Application Programming Interface (API) technology to assist with the credit check on the customer’s application and provide an automated credit decision within minutes. Customers will have finance for their business account within three days of NAB receiving their signed loan document.

NAB Group Executive Business Banking Angela Mentis said: “The Australian economy relies on entrepreneurs who innovate, establish new industries and create jobs. As the biggest business bank in the country, we stand ready to back Australian businesses with great ideas, providing simple, quick funding solutions to support small businesses looking to grow”.

New NAB research shows around 1 in 3 Australians would like to run their own business with young Australians clearly the most aspirational (nearly 1 in 2) and this offer will help businesses in those early years with the important cash flow they may need.

The research also showed that banking support (49%) is still commonly cited as a critical element to building businesses.

“In the early days of business ownership, small businesses often only require small amounts of funding – and many owners don’t have a property or other significant assets to secure a loan against. We’re responding to these customer needs, placing more emphasis on the strength of the business rather than traditional physical bricks and mortar security,” Ms Mentis said.

The initiative means NAB is the only big four bank to offer such an online service without a third party referral involved.

Executive General Manager NAB Labs, Jonathan Davey, said the NAB QuickBiz Loan was another example of the bank’s agile approach to meet customer needs.

“We are listening to our customers and focusing on the development of capabilities to drive better customer experiences,” Mr Davey said.

“It’s another example of NAB Labs agile development and rapid prototyping approach, where we build to decide, rather than decide to build, delivering solutions that make a real difference for our customers.”

– Quick facts about the NAB QuickBiz Loan –

• To launch in early June.
• To be eligible a business must have been in operation for at least 12 months. The business type must be a Sole Trader, Partnership with two or less partners or Private Company with two or less directors.
• The loan will be offered at an interest rate of 13.85% with no establishment or service fees (Unsecured, Fixed 12 or 24 month terms, monthly P&I repayments).
• Once NAB receives the customer’s executed contracts – funds will be available within the customer’s account within three working days.
• More information about the NAB QuickBiz Loan can be found here