Recently Rupert Hogan, MD of BusinessLoans.ie met Sean Murray, Chief Editor of US Fintech magazine DeBanked. Murray was on a mission to explore the Fintech scene in Ireland.

There was great interaction between the pair right away. Murray said, “Hogan is full of energy and enthusiasm. He has a natural charisma and friendly manner that’s well-suited for a relationship-based business. It just so happens that SME finance in Ireland is still heavily reliant on person-to-person contact and Hogan is at the forefront of helping potential borrowers look beyond the bank for their financing needs.”

We learned that, while the Fintech scene in the US is a little more advanced than here in Ireland, many of the same alternative finance solutions are already here and at a comparable rate. He said, “Hogan’s company can connect SMEs with as little as €5,000 through an unsecured business loan or merchant cash advance. Invoice Financing, leasing, and trade finance are also tools at his disposal. It’s not all small, however, as he hands me a rate sheet for one lender that will go up to €25M. Interest rates on these products when compared with their American and UK brethren are quite reasonable, and suggest also that the target clientele is not subprime.”

Not only is Murray at the helm of deBanked magazine he also runs Fintech conferences, deBanked Connect. We hope he can come back to Ireland again soon to enliven the finance scene here.

Read the article. The Broker: Funding Businesses The Irish Way