Secure Trust Bank : BNPL aftersales specialist set for Bumper success following £10m facility

Bumper, a rapidly growing automotive aftersales payments platform, has secured a £10m flexible working capital facility from Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance to support growth.

This initial funding will be used to support continued expansion and growth across the UK, with the flexibility to increase alongside Bumper in the future.

Bumper, based in London, is Europe's ninth fastest-growing fintech company according to the Financial Times and offers Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) and PayNow products to finance vehicle repairs, servicing, add-ons, accessories and automotive works. Founded in 2013, Bumper now has more than 2,500 franchised dealers, including Vertu, Sytner and Lookers, and 650 garages across the UK and Ireland signed up to use the service. It also works exclusively with a number of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), including JLR and the Volkswagen Group.

The firm's exponential growth follows a significant increase in dealership partners, with more than 60 per cent of the franchised market in the UK now using the platform, and the growing public awareness of BNPL. As a result, Bumper has seen record lending month-on-month and expects to see its gross merchandise value increase by 3x in 2021.

The initial facility will be used to support growth in the loan book and ensure Bumper can continue to help UK drivers spread the cost of their repair bills.

Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance provides a full suite of asset-based lending options including invoice financing, working capital and inventory financing. Currently the commercial finance arm of the listed bank has in excess £500m of facilities agreed to support growing businesses across the UK.

William Shuckmith, CFO at Bumper, said: 'Bumper is on a very positive growth trajectory, thanks to our continued increase in partner numbers, ever improving tech for dealerships, UX for customers and our recent rebrand. We were keen to ensure that we partnered with a business that truly understood our market and objectives and could create a flexible facility with scope to grow with us. John and his team at Secure Trust have done just that: they invested time in getting to know the business, created a flexible facility that works for us and were able to deliver it quickly.'

John Gribbon, Regional Managing Director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: 'In recent years there has been a huge increase in popularity of BNPL, and Bumper's management team leveraged this increased awareness to attract some of the biggest names in the automotive sector.

'The combination of its superb customer base, the knowledge and drive of the management team and this initial funding means there's no doubt Bumper will growth exponentially in the coming years. We understood the need to create a flexible facility that would account for this anticipated growth, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with the team and the facility evolves and the business continues to thrive.'