In a market where small businesses still battle uneven credit access, Capital on Tap drew a sharp line under that gap by closing a £500 million asset-backed securitization that turned everyday card receivables into scaled and repeatable funding. The move mattered because it paired deep investor demand with a product roadmap that stretches beyond cards into payments, deposits, and real-time spend controls.
Deal Overview: Europe’s Largest Non-Bank Card Securitization Fuels SME Lending and Spend Management
Structured and distributed by Lloyds, BNP Paribas, Citi, Société Générale, and SMBC, the transaction was described as Europe’s largest non-bank credit card deal, signaling confidence in the company’s underwriting and servicing model. Proceeds targeted lending capacity for more than 200,000 SMEs while accelerating feature rollout, including a bill pay beta designed to streamline accounts payable.
Moreover, the deal sat atop a durable stack: an upsized revolving facility with Blue Owl and a £550 million master trust with BNP Paribas and Citi. That pattern of programmatic issuance pointed to a funding model built for cadence, not one-off raises, and it sharpened pricing and execution.
Execution Highlights, Market Signals, and Strategic Rationale
The event underscored a strategic blend of structured finance and bank partnerships to scale SME credit while protecting equity control. Pricing benefited from granular performance data and stable loss curves, while tranche design balanced investor yield with resilience across cycles.
At the same time, the company advanced spend management as a core workflow, tying credit to controls, rewards, reconciliation, and soon, bill payments. That convergence framed the ABS not just as balance-sheet fuel but as product velocity.
Lead Insights and Structure: What Drove Investor Demand
Investors leaned on consistent receivables performance and a disciplined underwriting playbook that kept losses predictable. CEO Damian Brychcy and Joint Lead Managers highlighted how ratings, credit enhancement, and clean payment history supported demand.
Crucially, prior facilities created a track record that made this issuance feel repeatable rather than experimental. That cadence helped anchor order books and solidify market depth.
Market Perspectives and Debates: The Role of ABS in Non-Bank SME Credit
Analysts viewed card-backed ABS as a scalable, cost-efficient tool in a rate environment that rewards matched funding. Europe’s liquidity improved, though it still drew comparisons to deeper U.S. markets.
Skeptics raised concentration and servicing risks, yet bank partners and master trusts tempered volatility. The takeaway: structure and data quality still decide the clearing level.
Use Cases and Customer Impact: From Credit Access to Spend Discipline
Expanded capacity translated into faster onboarding, higher limits, and broader eligibility for small firms that need working capital without friction. That reach mattered in sectors with lumpy cash flow.
On the ground, integrated controls and smoother reconciliation reduced back-office drag. Feedback loops from cohorts fed underwriting signals and guided feature prioritization.
Product Roadmap and Partner Integrations: From Cards to a Broader Finance Stack
The bill payment beta aimed to automate AP, align due dates, and optimize float, bringing credit and payments into one lane. It also set the stage for tighter policy controls per vendor and invoice.
ClearBank-powered business savings tied deposits to spend analytics, sharpening cash management. Future steps pointed to richer accounting integrations, real-time data feeds, and measured cross-border support.
What This Means for SME Finance: Takeaways and the Road Ahead
This event confirmed that structured finance, paired with bank partners, had scaled non-bank credit while diversifying funding and preserving control. For Capital on Tap, it unlocked cost-efficient growth, widened product scope from cards to payments and deposits, and established a repeatable issuance rhythm resilient through cycles. For the market, it advanced European card-backed ABS, pushed spend management and credit closer together, and set up next actions around master trusts, multi-currency programs, and data-driven risk frameworks that move SME finance toward integrated, software-led services.
