Metro Bank SME Finance Review
Metro Bank offers factoring and confidential invoice discounting, which it says is ideal for limited companies. It says it advances up to 90% of your invoices, typically within 24 hours, and you can leave with 28 days' notice. Fees are agreed with you up front but not published. Set-up takes around 3 to 6 weeks on average.
What this page covers
This page covers
Metro Bank invoice finance products, advance rate, fees, set-up time, notice period and bad debt protection
Not covered here
General invoice finance education (see /guides/), sector pages (see /industries/), the full provider directory (see /providers/)
Key Facts
What Metro Bank offers
- Factoring: Metro Bank's credit control team chases your customers. It says this suits smaller businesses in the early stages of growth.
- Invoice discounting: you keep running your own sales ledger, and it is confidential, so your customers are not told. It says this suits larger businesses with established credit control.
- Asset based lending: borrowing against debtors, stock, plant and machinery and property, with cash flow loans for buyouts and acquisitions.
- Bad debt protection: an optional extra that covers you if a customer becomes insolvent or does not pay.
You upload invoices through its online portal (called E3), which can link to accounting software such as Xero or Sage. Metro Bank charges a daily discount fee on the money advanced and a service fee on each invoice you notify. Rates are variable, security may be required, and lending is subject to credit approval.
Source: Metro Bank invoice financing page, read 14 Oct 2026.
Who it suits
Metro Bank suits a business that wants invoice finance from a bank and the option to leave on 28 days' notice. It does not publish a minimum turnover or its prices, so ask for a written quote and compare it with other banks.
How it compares
Other UK banks that offer invoice finance, with the terms each publishes.
| Lender | Published minimum turnover | Paid up front | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance | £100k | Up to 90% | lloydsbank.com |
| NatWest Invoice Finance | £300k | Up to 90% | natwest.com |
| HSBC Invoice Finance | £1m | Up to 95% | business.hsbc.uk |
| Barclays Invoice Finance | None published | Up to 90% | barclays.co.uk |
Figures as published on each lender's own website, checked 13 October 2026. None of these lenders publishes its fees.
Official site: Metro Bank
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, founder and PSC of Best Business Loans Ltd
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind Market Invoice. He spent over three years as managing director of Penny, a UK invoice finance business, and his career runs through insurance, mortgages, commercial finance and fintech lending. He writes the Market Invoice library.
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