“Can a specialist cashflow-based SME lender use open banking data and flexible product structures to consistently serve the underserved mid-market gap between online lenders and high-street banks?”
ThinCats was established as a UK alternative lender serving mid-sized SMEs (£0.5m–£40m gross assets) that fall between purely online lenders and traditional bank lending thresholds. The company differentiates through cashflow/income-based lending rather than pure asset-backed lending, enabling it to serve businesses that lack sufficient assets for traditional bank models. It was subsequently acquired by and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Shawbrook Group PLC. It has expanded its product suite beyond vanilla term loans to include Agile Capital (term loan + RCF hybrid) and Transitional Capital (back-ended repayment structures for buy-and-build investors), and has integrated open banking via Salt Edge to automate credit assessment and portfolio monitoring.
Thincats discloses Shawbrook Bank Limited as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Thincats does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Shawbrook Bank Limited.
Thincats's lending and capital products are provided by Mambu.
Thincats connects to bank accounts through Salt Edge.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Thincats's stack: Lending (Mambu, Cashflow term loans (£1m–£30m), Asset Backed Loans (up to 85% LTV), Agile Capital (term loan + revolving credit facility, £3m–£15m) and 3 others); Open banking (Salt Edge); Sponsor bank (Shawbrook Bank Limited); Transaction enrichment (Salt Edge).
Thincats is headquartered in UK.
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