Selina Finance secures new funding and reduces rates across its product range
21 February 2024
In a strategic move set to unlock future growth, Selina Finance, an innovative player in the consumer secured loans market, has secured two new funding lines, one with Vanquis Bank (“Vanquis”) and the other with Waterfall Asset Management (“WAM”). This transition enhances Selina's flexibility in pricing and ability to explore future products and allows a significant increase in lending volume capacity. With this funding announcement, Selina is updating rates across its product range. Selina is also switching credit bureaus from Experian to Equifax, a shift designed to align with market standards and facilitate further automation of decisioning and underwriting.
Since its establishment in 2019, Selina has expanded its product offerings beyond its flagship HELOC ("Home Equity Line of Credit") product, introduced in 2021 and designed for borrowers who require gradual or flexible funding over time (e.g. for large-scale home improvements or school fees). The current product range includes Selina’s standard term loan offering with 5-year and 2-year fixed options, no ERC products, available up to a maximum loan-to-value of 85%.
Over the past 12 months, Selina has invested heavily in streamlining its broker and customer experience, including e-signatures on all offer documents, faster and more automated underwriting processes, and an expanded underwriting team in its Manchester office. Recently, Selina announced the ability to fund before first charge consent has been received where the loan meets specific criteria. The lender currently boasts attractive SLAs of around 3 hours for new packs from brokers; with e-signatures and the availability of AVM valuations up to 85%, this enables application turnaround to completion periods of days.
In addition to operational improvements, the lender is committed to a digital-first approach, offering a paperless application process, a digital form for debt consolidation, and an easy-to-use portal. The company has also established API links with selected distribution partners to facilitate seamless integration and instant quotation.
The lender is also strengthening its broker BDM coverage with Harriet Merriman joining Selina as Business Development Manager, taking on responsibility for Selina's key master broker accounts in the south of England and Wales. Harriet spent the last 6 years at secured lender Central Trust in various roles, most recently as their southern BDM.
Darvish Heshejin, VP Growth at Selina Finance, said: “I'm delighted to announce the transition of our funding structure and the reduction of our second charge mortgage rates. We're more confident than ever with our product, service and technology proposition and look forward to growing with our partners in 2024.”
James Cuby, Managing Director at Waterfall Asset Management, said: “We're absolutely thrilled to announce our new partnership with Selina, in their effort to empower UK homeowners with low-cost, tailor-made loans.”
Ian McLaughlin, CEO at Vanquis Banking Group, said: “We’re delighted to have entered a funding partnership with Selina that offers innovative consumer-secured loans, as we continue to develop our own secured lending ambitions in markets less served by mainstream banks."
