What makes Credicorp different from a bank?

Focus: one product, done well

A bank is a broad institution — current accounts, savings, mortgages, cards, insurance and, somewhere in the mix, business lending. Credicorp does one thing: short-term working-capital finance for UK limited companies. That focus shapes everything. The application asks only what is relevant to that decision, the underwriting team understands this kind of borrowing deeply, and there is no need to fit your business into a product designed for someone else.

For a director who needs cash to cover stock, payroll or a seasonal gap, a specialist who only does this is often a better fit than a generalist who does everything.

Structure: we lend to the company

The biggest structural difference is who carries the risk. Banks frequently require a director's personal guarantee, putting your home and personal assets on the line if the company can't repay. Credicorp typically lends to the company itself, without a personal guarantee.

That means the loan sits with the business as its own legal person. It keeps a clean line between your personal finances and the company's borrowing — the way limited liability is supposed to work.

Speed and process

Because the product is narrow and the process is purpose-built, decisions are usually faster than a high-street bank's committee-driven timeline. There is no branch network, no cross-selling, and no waiting weeks for a relationship manager. You apply, the company's trading is assessed, and you get a clear answer.

This leaner model is also why Credicorp can look at the business on its own merits rather than defaulting to a one-size template. Faster does not mean careless — it means the friction that doesn't add value has been stripped out.

Where a bank may still suit you better

Credicorp is not trying to be your bank. If you need a current account, a long-term loan over many years, a commercial mortgage or an overdraft tied to day-to-day banking, those are bank products and a bank is the right home for them. Credicorp sits alongside your bank, not in place of it — it is the specialist you turn to for fast, short-term working capital without a personal guarantee. Many companies use both, each for what it does best. You can read more about who Credicorp is built for.

Assessment built around the business

A final difference is how the decision is made. A bank often runs your application through a standardised model designed to serve a huge customer base, where a single score can carry a lot of weight. Because Credicorp does only one kind of lending, it can look at the company's actual trading — turnover, cash flow, how the business behaves — rather than squeezing it into a generic template.

That matters most for companies that are perfectly healthy but don't fit a tidy box: newer businesses, seasonal trades, or firms with an imperfect history but strong current performance. A specialist can weigh the real picture, which is often the practical difference that gets a sensible deal done.