Eoin Christian, chief executive at Grid Finance pictured with Paul Byrne, An Post Retailer Services manager.
An Post has teamed up with Grid Finance, an Irish specialist lender to SMEs and micro enterprises.
The new partnership will offer business customers of An Post Retailer Services access to funding solutions from Grid Finance.
An Post Retailer Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of An Post, was established in 2001 and provides An Post products and services to customers outside of regular hours.
It also offers card payment and merchant services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
An Post will now refer these business customers to Grid Finance to give them access to new lending.
The loans from Grid Finance are targeted at SMEs, with repayments made in line with revenue.
“This partnership is another milestone in our efforts to support the growth and development of Irish SMEs, and we’re confident that it will make a real difference to businesses across the country,” An Post’s retailer services manager Paul Byrne said.
Grid Finance chief executive Eoin Christian added that the company understands the challenges facing SMEs in Ireland today.
“We’re dedicated to providing the capital, tools and resources they need to overcome them,” he said.
“This partnership with An Post Retailer Services is a key part of that effort, we’re committed to helping businesses across Ireland achieve their goals.”
Grid Finance was founded in 2013 to meet the credit needs of SMEs and micro-enterprises as traditional bank credit evaporated in the wake of the financial crash and bailouts.
It initially launched as a peer-to-peer lending platform before pivoting to cash advance lending in 2017.
Its core lending business now is cash advances for small businesses.