There was no cause to celebrate week ten of the Bounce Back Loan scheme, for during the 6th of July through to and including the 12th of July 2020 just 34,201 BBL’s were approved that week.
One would imagine with such a low approval rate there was a sharp decrease in those applying for such a loan, well that was not the case for there were still plenty of people waiting to get their applications processed, and a huge number of business owners could still not get a bank account with most lenders that week to allow them to apply for a BBL.
Most lenders did not want to touch new customers, so made it impossible for anyone to get a new account, and lenders that would accept new customers would take an absolute age to process those new account applications.
As usual, below is a video in which you will see several messages that I was sent during week ten so you will be able to see for yourself the stresses and strains most people were having, along with seeing the joy and relief when some people did finally get paid out their Bounce Back Loan.
It was during week 10 that I issued another warning about the fatally flawed “shared industry database” that had come into force previously, many banks were adding peoples names onto that database incorrectly or erroneously, even adding peoples details when all they had done was to apply to go on a BBL waiting list.
Some bank staff were reading the information incorrectly on that database which resulted in many people being declined a Bounce Back Loan as the lender they had just approached believed they had already got a BBL for the business entity they were applying for, which was not the case for many people.
A few highlights in week ten include some applicants finally getting an account set up with HSBC, who had been overwhelmed since the day they launched their BBL facility. Many were still waiting though.
Tide had seriously upset a lot of people, and with tens of thousands of business owners on their waiting list, and no hope of Tide ever being able to offer them all a BBL many people resigned themselves to the fact that lender was a lost cause.
I had also received word from some applicants that Barclays had finally paid them out their BBL’s, a few of whom had been waiting since day one of the scheme going live.
Once again as in previous weeks I did notice Clydesdale, whilst slow and very methodical, were opening up accounts for people and allowing them to easily apply for a Bounce Back Loan, so those who contacted me struggling with other banks were advised to try their luck with that bank, and many did manage to get both a bank account set up and then a Bounce Back Loan.
Metro Bank had pulled their online bank account application system, and were requiring people to visit a branch to apply for a new account, which did see people being forced to travel in some cases hundreds of miles to get to a branch, however many were declined as Metro Bank did not have the appetite for the market sector their business operated in.
