FairFX Group PLC (LON:FFX) shares were lifted on Friday after it received permission from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide credit facilities and loan products to its business and retail customers.
The electronic and international payments group said that as it was acting as a broker, the loans would be provided by FCA-authorised third party lenders and there will be no credit risk to the group and the loans would not appear on its balance sheet.
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Having achieved the regulatory status, FFX said it now expected to launch an “innovative, highly digitised” credit product in partnership with iwoca, a specialist lender to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), in the coming months.
The company said that the product would allow SMEs to apply and receive a decision on loans “in minutes” and immediately receive funds either directly into their account or onto a prepaid card issued by FFX.
The firm added that it had a pipeline of further products and services that were set to launch later this year and beyond.
Ian Strafford-Taylor, chief executive of FairFX, said the approval of the broker licence was a “major step” in the company’s effort to provide a full range of products to its SME customers.
The shares were up 3.2% at 113.5p in late-morning.
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