Wednesday April 22nd, the French Senate voted a new amendement that includes lending platforms in the state-guaranteed loans system. October is now able to propose these state-guaranteed loans to SMEs and thus support French companies during Covid-19 outbreak.
€300 billion guaranteed by the government
On March 18th, the French State announced an exceptional package of €300 billion state-guaranteed loans to be distributed by banks. This system is now extended to lending platforms, it enables all eligible companies to obtain a loan with a state guarantee. The State guarantees 90% of the loan for all companies, except those with more than 5,000 employees or more than €1.5 billion turnover, where the State guarantees 70% or 80%.
“This excellent news will help us to support SMEs even more actively in this difficult time. We will do so at cost price. With solidarity. ” Olivier Goy, Founder and CEO of October
October is taking active action to help companies to cope with Covid-19 outbreak
One month ago, October implemented an automatic 3-month freeze on capital repayments for all its European borrowers after a vote by its private and institutional lenders. With this new amendment, October will be able to go further by financing companies that need cash flow through state-guaranteed loans.
The platform is only making profits from the set-up and monthly fees. October will use the state-guaranteed loans system at cost price for borrowers. The interest paid by companies remains totally dedicated to the private and institutional lenders. Thanks to the guarantee system, this rate will be reduced.
October is actively working on the project with the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance and Bpifrance to offer as soon as possible a simple and quick state-guaranteed loan solution on the platform. More details are to come.