Swoop: how it works and what it costs
Free funding marketplace matching UK businesses to loans, grants and equity. Lenders pay Swoop commission when deals complete.
How it works
Swoop is not a lender. It is a funding marketplace that sits between your business and many possible sources of money. You tell Swoop about your business once, and it matches you with loans, grants and equity investment. It also checks whether you could pay less for business banking, insurance and energy. Using it costs you nothing.
Getting started means handing over real information. Swoop asks for your business details and asks you to connect your business bank account. It is a registered Account Information Services Provider (reference 833145), which is the regulated status that lets a firm view your account data. Viewing is all that status allows. It does not let anyone move your money.
Once your profile is in, Swoop shows you matches from its panel. This is where it differs from a plain comparison table. Funding managers, sometimes called case handlers, work with you on the applications themselves. That help is genuinely useful if forms and forecasts are not your thing. It also means the phone will ring, because Swoop follows up.
If a match completes, the money comes from the provider, and you repay the provider on whatever terms you agreed with them. Swoop gets paid at the same moment. It typically receives a commission from the finance provider, either a fixed fee or a fixed percentage of the amount you receive. Translated: on a percentage deal, a £100,000 loan earns Swoop five times what a £20,000 loan does. You never see that bill, but it explains why the service can be free and why the follow-up is keen.
The scale claims are Swoop's own published figures: more than 310,560 customers, more than £1.5 billion in funding completed and more than £80 million in savings identified. We have not audited them, but they are the numbers Swoop puts its name to.
What it really costs
Swoop is free to businesses. Its own explanation of how it gets paid is worth reading in full: "We typically receive a commission from the finance provider (either a fixed fee or a fixed percentage of the amount you receive) upon successful placement." In plain English, the lender pays Swoop when your deal completes. You do not pay Swoop anything.
There is no representative example to quote, because Swoop does not lend. The real cost of any funding you take is set by the provider you match with. Before signing anything, the useful questions are: what is the total amount repayable, what fees apply, what happens if you repay early, and is a personal guarantee required. You can also ask Swoop what commission it earns on your deal. The answer is worth having.
One more honest note on "free". Commission paid by lenders is how most brokers work, and it is not a scandal. But it does mean Swoop's matches come from providers willing to pay it, not from every funder in Britain. Free to you is not the same as neutral.
Who can apply
- Open to UK businesses, and free to use.
- Be ready to share detailed business information and connect your business bank account.
- Swoop is a broker, not a lender, so each provider on its panel applies its own criteria.
- Loans, grants and equity are all on the platform, so there is no single pass-or-fail test to get matched.
Good for
- Owners who do not yet know what type of funding fits. Loans, grants and equity sit in one search.
- Anyone who wants a named person helping with the application rather than a DIY comparison table.
- Businesses happy to have banking, insurance and energy costs checked at the same time.
- Time-poor businesses that would rather build one profile than fill in separate applications with every funder.
Watch out for
- You hand over a lot before you see anything. Detailed business information and a bank connection come first, matches come second.
- Expect follow-up calls. Swoop is paid when deals complete, so its team has every reason to chase yours over the line.
- Matches come from providers that pay Swoop commission. That is a panel, not the whole market.
- Swoop does not set your funding costs. The rate, fees and term all come from the provider you end up with, so check those as hard as you would going direct.
How Swoop compares
The obvious comparison is Funding Options by Tide, another broker marketplace. Swoop's search takes in grants, equity and cost savings alongside loans, and its funding managers work with you on the applications rather than leaving you to it. If you already know exactly what type of funding you want, going direct to a lender such as iwoca or Funding Circle skips the broker layer altogether.
Put Swoop side by side with another lender →
Common questions
Is Swoop free to use?
Yes, Swoop is free to businesses. It is paid by the finance provider when a deal completes, typically a fixed fee or a fixed percentage of the amount you receive. You do not pay Swoop directly.
Is Swoop a lender?
No. Swoop is a funding marketplace, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a credit broker (FRN: 936513). It matches you with loans, grants and equity from other providers. Any money you receive comes from the provider, and you repay the provider, not Swoop.
Why does Swoop ask to connect my bank account?
Swoop uses your business details and bank data to match you with funding and to look for savings on banking, insurance and energy. It is a registered Account Information Services Provider (reference 833145), which is the regulated status that allows a firm to view account information but not move money. You are still handing over a lot of data, so be comfortable with that before you start.
Will using Swoop affect my credit score?
Being matched is not the same as applying. Hard credit checks generally happen when you formally apply with a specific lender, not when a broker looks for matches. At the time of checking we could not find a clear published answer from Swoop, so ask your case handler what kind of check happens at each stage before anything is submitted.
How fast can Swoop get me funding?
There is no single answer, because the money comes from whichever provider you match with. Swoop's funding managers help with the application, but the decision timetable belongs to the lender or scheme. Grants in particular tend to run on their own timetables.
Do I have to take what Swoop offers?
No. Swoop presents matches and its team helps with applications, but the decision is yours. Worth remembering that its matches come from providers that pay it commission, so treat a Swoop match as a starting point, not the whole market.
Regulation and status
Swoop is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a credit broker (FRN: 936513). It is also a registered Account Information Services Provider (reference 833145).
Swoop earns its money from finance providers, not from us. FundSpeed has no partner or affiliate arrangement with Swoop, and having one would never change what we write. Facts checked on 7 September 2026 against the sources below. Spotted a change? Tell us and we will fix it.