Moula branches out

Online small business lender Moula has expanded its market coverage from the online merchants it catered to when it was launched last year to a much broader group of SMEs.

When the business started last May it relied on cashflow data and other transaction histories from eBay and other e-commerce sites to complete credit assessments using an automated system. That limited its scope to online merchants.

Since December the company has been using the financial data aggregator Yodlee to source bank account details from loan applicants.

Moula provides unsecured business loans of up to A$50,000 for terms of up to six months. The company has not reported the value of originations since last May or the number of customers.

However, Moula co-founder Aris Allegos said the company was currently writing loans worth about $200,000 a week and was lending to a wide range of SMEs.

"Last week we approved finance for a pet grooming business, a pizza shop, a small engineering company and a small manufacturer making boat parts," Allegos said.

"We deal with businesses that have four years of history and average turnover of around $400,000."

Allegos said Moula picked Yodlee because it had a very good reputation for security. "When a business puts in its banking details there is a very slim chance that there will be a breach," he said.

However, working with the financial data aggregator was not a "plug and play" situation and "takes a bit of work," he said.