Non-bank completes $813m warehouse facility

Latitude Financial (Latitude) has completed an $813-million warehouse securitisation facility.

The Australian Sales Finance and Credit Cards Trust Number 3, which generated support from domestic and international investors, aims to reduce Latitude’s effective cost of funding for its instalments and cards receivables.

The facility has been established ahead of the refinancing of its previous trust, The Australian Sales Finance and Credit Cards Trust Number 2.

According to Latitude, the new fund will be used to grow the forward direction of the non-bank lender’s sales finance and card funding commitments as well as expand its buy now, pay later offering LatitudePay.

The lender said that LatitudePay+, which is expected to launch in the second half of this year, will enable customers to pay for purchases of up to $3,000 via monthly instalments over six-24 months. The buy now, pay later offering currently has a limit of $1,000.

The ASX-listed group said that it also expects the warehouse securitisation facility to grow to $1.1 billion next month following the addition of “another significant investor”.

Latitude’s managing director and CEO Ahmed Fahour commented: “The successful completion of our new warehousing facility is a strong endorsement by investors in Latitude’s growth plans, including the push into big ticket buy now, pay later, with LatitudePay+.

“The new facility provides funding headroom for Latitude to meet all of its sales finance and cards funding commitments for the next three years, in all market conditions, and as we continue to growth with the enhancement of LatitudePay,” he said.

Latitude Financial – which offers personal loans, consumer asset finance, debt consolidation, credit cards and insurance offerings – listed on the ASX under the code LFS last week (20 April).

The personal lender and payments provider commenced trading with 1 billion shares on issue at listing (at $2.60 per share), valuing Latitude at $2.6 billion. 

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