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Barclays business loans: at a glance
Barclays offers a variety of borrowing solutions for businesses at different stages of growth, and across a variety of sectors.
You don’t need to be a Barclays business account holder to get a loan, you just need to hold a business account with another bank and meet any relevant eligibility criteria for the product you’re considering.
In terms of business borrowing, its products include unsecured and secured business loans, as well as commercial mortgages, business overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance, and credit cards.
Promotion
Barclays Unsecured Business Loan
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Representative APR12.3%on loans of £1,000 – £25,000. APR for loans above £25,000 provided on application.
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Representative Example12.30% APR representative based on a loan of £6,000 repayable over 36 months at an interest rate of 12.30% per annum (fixed). Monthly repayment of £200.15. Total amount payable £7,205.28.
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Available amounts£1,000 – £100,000
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Available Terms1 – 10 years
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Barclays business loans pros & cons
Pros
- Businesses can borrow for up to 10 years with an unsecured loan, and 20 years with a secured loan.
- It has a wide range of customer service options, including online and via an app.
- Barclays has branches in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- You can borrow up to £100,000 with an unsecured loan.
Cons
- It does not have a dedicated phone helpline for business borrowing.
These pros and cons are based on an exclusive survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.
Barclays business loans key features
- A variety of borrowing options are available to suit different needs, including secured and unsecured business loans.
- Flexible lengths of borrowing are potentially available.
- Choose between fixed and variable repayment rates on offer.
- With agreement, businesses can take a six-month repayment holiday at the start of your unsecured business loan.
Barclays business loans full review
Barclays is a British bank offering financial services to everyone from consumers to small and larger businesses.
From secured and unsecured loans to overdrafts and asset finance, you can consider a Barclays borrowing solution whether you are already a business customer or not.
Once you’ve signed an agreement, the funds could be in your account in as little as 48 hours, allowing you to expand your business, invest in equipment, or improve cash flow.
Additionally, like many lenders, Barclays business loans and finance solutions can be flexible, allowing you to choose a loan term, and a fixed or variable rate depending on your needs and the type of loan.
We’ve put together everything you need to know about Barclays business loans at a glance in our table below.
| Amount borrowable | Up to £100,000 (unsecured) More than your provisional lending limit (secured) |
| Term length | Up to 10 years (unsecured) Up to 20 years (secured) |
| Web-based customer service | Social media Apple Messages In-app support |
| UK customer service number | N/A (for business borrowing specifically) |
| App | Yes (iOS and Android) |
| Face-to-face customer service | Yes |
| Access to loans without pre-existing account | Yes |
| Trustpilot rating | 1.4 out of 5 (as of 7 February 2023) |
Barclays business loan features
The following are some of the key features when taking out a business loan with Barclays.
Loan amounts and terms
For the business owners NerdWallet surveyed, far and away the most important factor when searching for a business loan is the flexibility of the term length. The maximum amount borrowable, meanwhile, is the fifth most important criteria.
At Barclays, the term length and maximum amount borrowable is, in part, determined by the type of loan you decide to take out: unsecured or secured.
Unsecured business loans
With an unsecured business loan from Barclays, you can currently borrow up to £100,000 without securing the loan against an asset, and have the funds in your account within 48 hours of signing the paperwork.
You can choose the length of time you borrow over, from one to 10 years. Interest rates for unsecured business loans are fixed at the beginning of your contract, so you will know how much you are paying back.
There is added flexibility with a Barclays unsecured loan, as you can choose to take a six-month repayment holiday at the start of your loan. You should know, however, that interest accrues during that period and will be reflected in your monthly repayments once you start making them.
Secured business loans
With a Barclays secured business loan, you can apply to borrow more than your provisional lending limit – the amount that the bank is willing to lend you based on what it already knows about your business’s finances. This is because you will be using an asset you own, such as a property, as a security against the loan. If you fail to keep up with your repayments, you may lose the security you have used as an asset.
You can choose between a fixed and variable rate with a Barclays secured business loan, and can repay your loan over a maximum period of 20 years.
Customer service
Strong customer service is a must when searching for a business loan, according to NerdWallet’s survey of business owners. After flexibility of term-length, the second, third and fourth most important ranking factors when choosing a lender are the availability of web-based, over-the-phone, and app-based customer service.
If you want to talk to Barclays about a business loan online, then you can contact the bank via Apple Messages or through its social media channels.
If you have the Barclays app, you can also chat to an automated digital assistant 24/7, or to a member of the Barclays team between 7am and 11pm.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that Barclays has a dedicated contact number for its business borrowing services.
Barclays also has a number of branches across the UK, where you may be able to seek assistance with your business loan. However, this isn’t as important to business owners when compared to other forms of customer service – placing in sixth place, according to NerdWallet’s survey.
Security
Most business lending is unregulated. However, if you are a sole trader, a partnership with fewer than four partners, or an unincorporated association, then business lending of up to £25,000 generally falls within Consumer Credit regulation.
This means a lender must be authorised and meet the standards set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Under these rules, if you take out a loan of £25,000 or less from Barclays, and are one of the business types mentioned above, then your borrowing should be regulated.
Customer reviews
Barclays has a ‘Bad’ Trustpilot rating of 1.4 out of 5, based on over 8,000 reviews. Bear in mind that this rating is based on the brand as a whole, rather than being specifically about any business loan product.
The lender’s app, on the other hand, has much better reviews:
- On the App Store, the Barclays app has been rated 4.8 out of 5 based on 1.6 million reviews.
- On Google Play, it has been rated 4.4 out of 5 based on over 474,000 reviews.
Both of these scores are accurate as of 7 February 2023.
Barclays business loans eligibility
In order to be eligible for a Barclays business loan, you will need to:
- be based in the UK
- be a sole trader, partnership, limited company, charity, club or association
- pass the lender’s assessment
- be the business owner, or have a bank mandate for the business
Barclays doesn’t stipulate a business age or size in its lending criteria – you could be a start up or a more established business. As long as you have sound finances and accounts as evidence of your business’s creditworthiness, you may be able to take out a business loan from Barclays.
Barclays also says that it doesn’t lend to all sectors, but it doesn’t specify which are ineligible.
How to choose a Barclays business loan
There are a number of questions you should ask yourself when choosing between an unsecured and secured Barclays business loan, or when comparing Barclays to other lenders:
- How much money do you need to borrow?
- How long do you want to be repaying your loan?
- Do you have an asset you can use as a security for a business loan, and are you prepared to risk losing it if you cannot keep up with your repayments?
- Do you want a fixed or variable interest rate?
- Do you want the ability to take a six-month repayment holiday at the start of your loan?
- What level of customer service and support do you require?
You may also want to consider the other lending options Barclays offers – such as business bank account overdrafts, business credit cards, invoice finance and asset finance – in case they better suit your needs.
How to apply for a Barclays business loan
If you are a Barclays business bank account holder, you can apply for an unsecured business loan via online banking. If you would like to apply for a secured loan, you will need to call Barclays on your usual contact number, or 0333 202 7431.
If you are new to Barclays, you will need to call 0800 515 462 to apply for both unsecured and secured business loans.
Either way, Barclays will likely want to see the following information before deciding whether or not to approve your application:
- your trading accounts
- your current business plan
- details of your profit and loss
- details of what you intend to do with the business loan
You should receive a decision on your loan within a few days of making your application. If Barclays needs more information from you, it may take a bit longer.
Review methodology
At NerdWallet Ltd UK we base our reviews on the results of surveys we conduct to understand what key product features are important to those who use them, and align them to the product we review.
Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible but it is likely there are others available that we have not reviewed. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability of your financial circumstances.
You can view our review methodology here.
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