Capitalflow, the specialist retail business lender founded in 2016, said it has been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland as a retail credit firm, which would allow it to widen its offering to include car finance and buy-to-let mortgages.
The business, which is owned by Dutch digital bank Bunq, added that the move would also enable it to lend to individuals looking to invest in commercial properties.
“We are delighted to be authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as a retail credit firm, a major milestone that will assist us in our plans to grow Capitalflow for the foreseeable future,” said chief executive Ronan Horgan.
“It allows us to expand our products to meet our customers’ needs. Over the last nine years we have competed with the legacy banks by providing choice to Irish businesspeople with our current products and now with this authorisation we can meet more of our customer needs.”
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Capitalflow has advanced more than €2 billion since it was set up and currently has a loan portfolio of more than €1 billion, mainly lent out to SMEs across broad range of sectors. It currently employs almost 100 people, but aims to expand this by 50 per cent by 2028 as it eyes a doubling of its loan book.
Capitalflow’s ability to access competitive funding terms from Bunq supports its ability to grow its loan portfolio to €2 billion by 2028, it said in a statement.
Capitalflow agreed last year to buy a commercial property portfolio, worth about €120 million, that had been managed by credit servicing firm Pepper Advantage. Capitalflow took over the title and management of the loans earlier this month.
Bunq acquired Capitalflow in 2021 from UK investment firm Pollen Street Capital, which initially backed Mr Horgan, for about €141 million.
The Dutch group was founded in 2012 by Canada-born entrepreneur Ali Niknam. It provides subscription-based banking services online to consumers and businesses and had 17 million customers at the end of last year, including in Ireland.
Based in the Netherlands, Bunq had €8 billion in deposits at the end of last year.
Capitalflow said it has experienced a strong performance in lending so far in 2025 and is on track to reach its new business target of €450 million in 2025, reflecting a 20 per cent increase on 2024 figures. It plans to increase its new business lending to €700 million by 2028, with a focus on generating new business through the intermediary market.
