This article was submitted by David Luck CEO of Capital on Tap

While the Government recently announced financial support for full-time employees, many of those who are self-employed or sole traders may now be facing uncertainty in their cash flow due to difficulties calculating their actual income.

A group of UK fintechs including Credit Kudos, Fronted, 11:FS, Coconut, Capital on Tap, Mazuma, Seedlegals and True Layer, have been in the process of developing a simple tool called Covid Credit, that allows the user to fill in banking data and create a straightforward PDF report, which can then be shared with HMRC to display the user’s financial situation.

The concept arose as part of a discussion in the fintech community over how best to provide support to millions of customers. Although the latest update from the government is that self-employed will be eligible for up to £2,500 per month, this is not due to start until June.

The intention is that the Covid Credit product will be beneficial to the government in streamlining the processes they put in place to manage the applications they receive from sole traders, to ensure businesses at risk receive support as quickly as possible.

The Covid Credit system is one of several ways that Capital on Tap is working to assist not only its customers but small businesses across the country. Other measures the company has taken include hiring additional staff in the customer service centre, and applying to become an accredited lender of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

David Luck, CEO of Capital on Tap, comments:

“Covid Credit is a tool that we hope will really make a difference to small businesses and those who are self-employed. It is important to us to make that process easier during this challenging situation.

A large portion of our customer base are sole traders and would need additional financial support from the government due to lost work. Our focus has been on what we can do to support our customers, whether that’s through initiatives like Covid Credit, or providing information on other government schemes like those that provide business rate relief or grants.

At the moment, Covid Credit is a proof of concept, but there has been an amazing level of interest already with thousands of people joining the waiting list.”

For more information on Covid Credit, please see the website here; https://covidcredit.uk/