Digital lender Atom Bank has opened its upgraded business lending portal for testing with brokers.

The Durham-based bank says brokers will have access its online application system, called Portal Lite, to submit applications for secured business loans.

It adds the portal provides brokers with “an easy way to send supporting evidence via the new secure document upload facility and case management dashboard”.

The lender says the pilot “with a select number of intermediaries” will help it “make real-time improvements before they roll-out the portal to a wider audience”.

Atom Bank director of intermediary lending David Castling says the aim of the upgraded system is “to make everything faster and simpler for our brokers when managing their applications with Atom”.

Castling adds: “Our relationship with brokers is so important and we want to offer them real value. This portal has been built especially with them in mind and in direct response to feedback we’ve received.”

The app-only bank, founded in 2014, plans to release further upgrades throughout the year, Portal Plus and Portal Pro, as well as a range of other new lending products.

Atom is on the panel of banks operating the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which lends to small firms throughout the pandemic. It says so far 506 applications have been submitted to it, worth £340m.