Sub-prime vehicle finance provider Moneybarn has broadened its reach to the near-prime market.
The move sees the company offer APRs from 14.9%, depending on personal circumstances, which applicants will be able to instantly accept or decline.
It has specialised in the sub-prime vehicle finance market since its launch in 1992 and stressed that it would continue to operate in that area.
Simon Bayley (pictured above), director of sales and marketing at Moneybarn, explained: “We are not moving away from our core audience and they will continue to remain a priority to us.
“This move allows us to offer what will be the widest product footprint in the market, and importantly, we’ll be able to continue to offer a competitive product to customers looking to repair their credit.”
Speaking to Credit Strategy, Bayley described the sub-prime vehicle market as “extremely competitive” and claimed it had a predicted value of more than £3 billion, which was expected to rise.
He said a number of rival sub-prime finance specialists had “narrow[ed] their lending parameters”, which helped the firm to solidify its position in the market.
He added that July 2020 was its best-ever month for new business, which increased by 29%, while July through to September – after the UK’s first lockdown, when values of older, low-cost used cars spiked – was the firm’s strongest period on record.
Bayley predicted that the used car market would remain strong throughout 2021 with “continual challenges for new car sales, with… hopefully some… growth coming at the back end of the year”.
He said the company was imminently due to pilot open banking, which it intended to use as a tool to offer packages to customers and fraud protection to lenders.
