ThinCats Business Loan Review

In this review, we’ll be discussing the Australian lending company, ThinCats. We’ll assess the kind of loans that ThinCats offer, their interest rates and fees, as well looking at  their verified customer reviews.

🌐 Website:https://www.thincats.com.au
®️ Logo:
📝 ABN:87 169 752 747
📝 Credit License:169 752 747
💰 Loan Amount$50,000 to $300,000
⏲️ Loan Term6 months to 5 years
💸 Unsecured Loans?Primarily offer secured loans
⌚ Lender RequirementsGood credit, experience in business, a plan for growth
📃 Required:An ABN/ACN, identification, accounting information, business growth plan
⏱️ Response Time:24 Hours
🌝 Easy to Apply:Yes

The Nitty-gritty

💌 Online Reviews:Just 12 reviews on Trustpilot with an average rating of 2.4
🏆 Awards and Recognition:None
💳 Minimal Interest Rates:12% – 20% based on a proprietary risk score card\
⚖️ Advantages
  • Large loan amounts available (up to $2,000,000)
  • Zero fees for early repayments
⚖️ Disadvantage’s
  • High interest rates
  • Not suitable for young companies
  • Not many client reviews
Compare ThinCatsCompare ThinCats with 30+ Australian Lenders on Lend.com
Review Table of Contents

Alternatives to ThinCats Australia?

Discover similar companies to ThinCats using Lend . These companies are not P2P platforms but from the borrower’s perspective they serve the same purpose – quick financing.

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Short Summary:

investors who want to tap into the alternative investment markets, with businesses that require quick financing. The loans ThinCats offer are primarily secured loans and unlike lenders like GetCapital or Capify require preparing a business plan.

Interest rates range from 12% – 20% in line with their proprietary risk score card, which is higher than  a bank loan. ThinCats also charge up to 6% in establishment and arrangement fees, as well as an ongoing management fee, starting from 0.25% p.m.

 

Last 10 loans on ThinCats.com.au for Aug 8, 2018. View current loans @https://www.thincats.com.au/statistics/

 

Company Story

 

ThinCats’s founder, Sunil Aranha, has over 25 years of experience in the tech and SME sector. ThinCats UK was founded in 2010, and have a unique set-up where they offer fixed-income-based repayment plans.

Sunil Aranha developed ThinCats in order to establish a company which was unique back in the day – a business-oriented P2P platform. It has faced very fierce competition from much bigger and more successful companies like Funding Circle, but it is still standing tall 13 years later and that should be respected.

ThinCats moved to Australia circa 2016 (we weren’t able to find the exact date) and offer something very few other Australian lenders offer – connecting businesses with investors directly on a P2P platform.

As of March 2023, ThinCats has funded more than 200 SMEs with over $25 million in loans, from a lender base of more than 250 wholesale and HNW members. Their multi-lender system helps borrowers gain a lower interest rate, and lenders gain less risk as they’re spreading out the loan across multiple lending parties. Their average loan size is $128,000, although they offer loans up to $300,000. ThinCats are seemingly performing well, as they have significantly raised their average loan size since their earlier years of operation, and have recently announced the hiring of a new CBO to help accelerate their next chapter of growth. Founder and CEO, Sunil Aranha, also recently shared details to expand their current offering, stating “We will also be enhancing our product suite to further meet the needs of this largely ignored and rapidly growing segment of the economy.”

ThinCats Client Reviews

ThinCats has very few reviews across the internet, signaling it’s a rather small company even in the UK, seeing as they have been operating since 2005. The ThinCats Australia page on TrustPilot is unclaimed and has zero reviews, and the UK TrustPilot page has a 4.2 / 5 score based on 32 reviews. However, there is only 1 review on that page from someone based in Australia, who gave ThinCats a 1 star review, claiming to have lost a lot of money.. We cannot make out any conclusions based on these sporadic customer reviews, given the extremely small sample size.

ThinCats Loan Compatibility

  • Startup: No. ThinCats prefers experienced business owners.
  • Bad credit: No.
  • Sole trader: Yes.
  • Established business: Yes.

ThinCats Business Loan Review: Concluding Words

Whilst ThinCats were revolutionary at the time of their inception, being the first Peer-to-Business lending platform in Australia, other companies have since began offering equivalent or similar services. 

Despite ThinCats being transparent with their interest rates and fees, which we believe to be quite high, they do seem to be enjoying continued success, meaning they are likely a considerable option for some borrowers, depending on their unique circumstances. 

However, we still believe ThinCats is a relatively small company, and their level of reliability remains in question, given a lack of customer reviews, some of which are very detailed regarding the poor service they received. 

Whilst we’re not ruling them out completely, those seeking a more reliable lender might consider one of the many other business loan providers in the NSW region.