Frontier Statistics: Non-Bank New Lending to Irish Enterprises

A View of  Non-Bank New Lending on the Central Credit Register – March 2025

Non-bank lending has become an established feature of Ireland’s credit market, with an increasing presence in funding to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This release provides a closer look at new lending from non-banks, including breakdowns based on lender, borrower and loan characteristics using data from the Central Credit Register (CCR), enriched with additional sources for a higher completeness of lender and borrower details. It builds on the Staff Insight analysing non-bank lending to Irish non-financial corporations and complements other research on the topic by the Central Bank (see “Related Publications” below).

Key Observations

  • Monthly volumes of new lending from non-banks to Irish enterprises are volatile and tend to show signs of variability across sectors.
  • Asset Finance Providers were the largest lending sector in Q1 2025, followed by Specialist Property Lenders. On the borrower side, Real Estate and Construction remained the largest borrowing sector.
  • From an enterprise size perspective, a significant share of funds went to SMEs. Asset Finance Providers was the predominant lending sector, followed by Specialist Property Lenders, mimicking the observation above.
  • Loans with maturities at origination between 2 and 5 years formed the largest share of new loans to SMEs, while maturities up to 1 year was the largest bucket for large enterprises. New loans to large enterprises appear to be more concentrated, while lending to SMEs is more spread across maturity buckets.

This Frontier Statistics release page is updated with new data periodically. Historical data can be accessed in the data file at the end of this page.

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Key Indicator – Non-Bank New Lending to Irish Enterprises

Non-bank new lending to Irish enterprises was €335mn in March 2025, down from €503mn in March 2024.

Time series and sectoral breakdowns of new lending from non-banks

Chart 1: Real Estate and Construction is the largest borrower sector

Monthly new lending flows by borrower sector, April 2023 to March 2025Monthly stacked bar chart of new non-bank new lending to Irish enterprises, broken down by borrower sector. Full summary below in notes.


Notes: The time series shows month-on-month variability in non-bank new lending, which is heterogeneous among borrower sectors. Non-bank new lending to Irish corporates was €335mn in March 2025.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format (CSV 33.44KB).


Chart 1 shows borrowers in the Real Estate and Construction sector to be the largest recipients of funds from non-banks, followed by Wholesale and Retail, while the Other Borrower Sectors category remains relevant. The Real Estate and Construction sector shows increasing flows across the first three months of the year, which is consistent with the behaviour in the previous two years and is potentially driven by the nature of such loans. Lending to this sector in the period as a share of the total was 42% on average, reaching levels as low as 17% and as high as 75%. This contrasts with loans to companies in the Wholesale and Retail sector, which shows more stability throughout the year.

Chart 2: Amongst lender categories, Asset Finance Providers were predominant in Q1 2025

Monthly new lending flows by lender sector, April 2023 to March 2025 The time series show month-on-month variability in non-bank new lending, which differs by lender sector. Non-bank new lending to Irish corporates was €335mn in March 2025.


Notes: The time series show month-on-month variability in non-bank new lending, which differs by lender sector. Non-bank new lending to Irish corporates was €335mn in March 2025.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format (CSV 33.44KB).


Chart 2 shows the same series but from the lenders perspective. New lending from non-banks tends to be issued by Asset Finance Providers, Specialist Property Lenders and General Lenders, representing 86% of total new loans in Q1 2025. Even though property-related sectors had a predominant position in March 2025, Asset Finance Providers were the main lenders in Q1 2025. The increasing monthly flows from Specialist Property Lenders in Q1 2025 are in line with previous years and mimic developments from a borrower perspective, reinforcing the strong links between the borrowing and lending legs of property-related sectors.

Non-bank new lending flows: whom-to-whom breakdowns

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Key Indicator – Non-Bank New Lending to Irish Enterprises

Non-bank new lending to Irish enterprises was €888mn in Q1 2025, down from slightly over €1bn in Q1 2024.

Chart 3: New lending is more concentrated at origination, while flows diversify at destination

New lending flows from lender to borrower sectors (Q1 2025)Chord chart showing flows from lender sectors (lower end) to borrower sectors (upper end). Full summary below in notes.


Notes: The chart shows that Asset Finance Providers was the main non-bank lender sector in Q1 2025, with new loans worth €327mn issued in the quarter, while Real Estate and Construction received the largest share of funds in the same period, with €367mn worth of new loans received.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format (CSV 1.05KB).


Chart 3 shows new lending flows from lender to borrower sectors. Asset Finance Providers was the largest lending sector in Q1 2025, extending new loans worth €327mn. Specialist Property Lenders extended loans worth €271mn, while new loans from General Lenders stood at €164mn over the quarter, mostly financing the Real Estate and Construction and Administrative Services sectors. On the borrower’s side, Real Estate and Construction was the largest recipient of funds, with new loans worth €367mn, slightly over 40% of total new lending. Sources of funding were diverse for this sector, but it captured almost 90% of funds extended by Specialist Property Lenders, pointing to a higher concentration on the lending side. Other Borrower Sectors remained large in Q1 2025 and stood as the second largest with new loans worth €271mn. Lending in Q1 2025 appears to be more diversified at origination despite the natural links within property-related sectors.

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Key Indicator – Non-Bank New Lending to Irish Enterprises

SMEs received new loans from non-banks worth €550mn in Q1 2025, while new loans to large enterprises was significantly lower and stood at €338mn on the same period.

Chart 4: SMEs are predominant in Q1 2025 for all lending sectors, but sources of new lending are visibly different depending on the enterprise size

New lending flows by lender sector and enterprise size (Q1 2025)Sankey diagram of new lending flows. Left-hand side shows a breakdown of lender sectors, while right-hand side shows a breakdown of borrower size. Full summary below in notes.


Notes: The chart shows that Asset Finance Providers and Specialist Property Lenders are the main non-bank lender sectors in Q1 2025, and that SMEs received a significant portion of new loans overall during the quarter.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format (CSV 0.49KB).


Chart 4 shows flows between lender sectors and enterprises segregated by their size. Q1 2025 shows a predominance of lending to SMEs, which received new loans worth €550mn, or 62% of total new lending in the quarter, while large enterprises received €338mn. This picture holds on a sectoral basis, with SMEs capturing more than 50% of funds across all lending sectors. While SMEs captured a majority of funds, there was no predominance of a particular sector. Large enterprises, on the other hand, experienced higher concentration, with 48% of new loans extended by Asset Finance Providers (€161mn) and 34% (€114mn) extended by Specialist Property Lenders. General Lenders extended new loans worth €164mn, of which €157mn targeted SMEs.

 

Chart 5:  Enterprise size is also relevant across time, with non-bank new lending to large enterprises showing higher monthly variability

Monthly new lending flows by enterprise size, April 2023 to March 2025 Monthly stacked bar chart of non-bank new lending to Irish enterprises, broken down by enterprise size. Full summary below in notes.


Notes: The time series shows month-on-month variability in non-bank new lending, which is potentially explained by the size of the enterprise. Non-bank new lending to SMEs remained predominant in March 2025, with new loans worth €190mn.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format (CSV 2.89KB)


Chart 5 shows a predominance of non-bank new lending to SMEs over large enterprises in March 2025, which is in line with observed behaviour in previous months. New lending to SMEs stood at €190mn in March 2025, while large enterprises received new loans from non-banks worth €146mn in the month. New loans to large enterprises increased month-on-month in Q1 2025, partially explaining the overall increase in new lending through the quarter. General variability in non-bank new lending is potentially explained by new lending to large companies, which shows a higher variability in monthly volumes, in contrast to generally more stable volumes to SMEs.

 

Chart 6: Other Loans remained the most represented loan type category in Q1 2025, followed by Asset Finance

New non-bank lending by loan type (Q1 2025) Donut chart showing a breakdown of non-bank new lending by loan type. Full summary below in notes.


Notes:  The chart shows that the Other Loans category was the main loan type in Q1 2025, with new non-bank lending in the period worth €293mn for that category.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format. (CSV 0.17KB)


Other Loans, which includes revolving facilities, was the largest loan type granted by non-banks in Q1 2025, with new loans worth €293mn, or 33% of total new lending in the quarter. However, Q1 2025 shows less differences in shares by loan type, with Asset Finance accounting for 27% of new loans, or €244mn, and Mortgage Loans accounting for 26% of the total, or €232mn.


Chart 7: Maturities at origination appear to vary across borrower size in Q1 2025, with the largest differences visible in the extremes

Breakdown of new non-bank loans by maturity at origination and borrower size (Q1 2025)Stacked bar chart showing non-bank new lending broken down by maturity at origination buckets and borrower size. Full summary below in notes.


Notes: The bar chart shows that maturities between 2 and 5 years was the largest bucket for SMEs, while maturities up to 1 year was the most represented bucket for large enterprises. Loans to SMEs are more diversified and less concentrated.
Source: Central Credit Register, author calculations.
Accessibility: Get the data in accessible format. (CSV 0.65KB)


Chart 7 shows non-bank loans by borrower size, broken down by maturity at origination buckets. Q1 2025 shows that new lending to large enterprises was mostly shorter term and more concentrated than new lending to SMEs. 41% of new loans to large enterprises had maturities at origination up to 1 year, while 83% had maturities at origination under 5 years. New lending to SMEs, on the other hand, appears to be more diversified and tends to be longer term, with 34% of new loans having maturities at origination between 2 and 5 years and 25% of new loans with maturities between 5 and 10 years. The lower concentration of new loans to SMEs could be potentially explained by the observed diversification at lender level pictured in Chart 4, where different lending sources and purposes could justify different loan characteristics, of which different maturities.

Data

Background

The CCR New Non-Bank Lending publication (henceforth referred to as “New Lending”) presents data on monthly new loans to Irish enterprises originated by non-banks. The series provides breakdowns by borrower, lender and loan type, including company size and maturity of the loan at origination. This data is published for the first time as a Frontier Statistics release, indicating that the methods and data are subject to revision.  The series will be updated on a quarterly basis and with a two-quarter lag. Read more about Frontier Statistics.

 

CCR New Lending figures are compiled from the Central Credit Register (CCR), a database containing records of loans and loan applications of over €500 borrowed by Irish residents or governed by Irish law.  The CCR is established by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Credit Reporting Act 2013 as amended. As such, lenders are required to submit information on loans to the CCR.

 

This publication provides additional context to the Irish credit landscape alongside the Central Bank of Ireland Official SME and Large Enterprise Bank Credit and Deposits. Notable differences between these publications may be explained in the Coverage and Scope section.

 

Coverage and Scope

The CCR scope and coverage, from which this publication is sourced, is broader than the New Lending series. This publication looks exclusively at non-bank lenders, and in particular, at non-bank lenders that are originating new loans. Loans provided by the Government (including Government-sponsored agencies and Local Authorities) are not included in this series.

 

Information on the types of lenders and loans included in the CCR can be found here, while the full population list is available. An extensive description of the composition of non-banks in the CCR can be found in this Behind the Data report.

 

There are some loan types which are absent from the CCR, including tradeable assets such as loan notes and debt securities, and other loan types including trade credit, intra-group credit and utilities debt. Other loans excluded from the CCR are loans owed between credit institutions. However, loans between other financial corporations such as investment funds are included.

 

The CCR captures data on loans to individuals and companies. However, for the purposes of this publication, only new non-bank loans to companies are considered.

 

The New Lending Frontier Statistics series relates exclusively to domestic credit. Any new non-bank loan included in the CCR and identified as being to non-Irish residents is excluded.

 

Central Bank of Ireland publishes SME and Large Enterprise Bank Credit and Deposits. There are key differences in the coverage of this data compared to the New Lending data published under Frontier Statistics. One such difference is that the SME and Large Enterprise Credit and Deposits data covers resident credit institutions (i.e. banks and credit unions), while this release only focuses on credit from Non-Banks. Additionally, official statistics look at gross new lending, while the New Lending data in Frontier Statistics considers new credit agreements. The New Lending series in Frontier Statistics also provides a different sectoral breakdown of borrowers and lenders.

 

Data Checks and Revisions

As part of the Frontier Statistics series, the New Lending publication will undergo continuous revisions each quarter, and the data and methodology are subject to change. CCR data are subject to change, and therefore analysis will be repeated each quarter to ensure timeliness and accuracy in the published series.

 

Definitions

Central Credit Register (CCR): A database of loans of €500 or more borrowed by a person living in the Irish State at the time of applying for the loan, or borrowed via a loan agreement/application which is governed by Irish law. The CCR was set up in 2013 by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Credit Reporting Act 2013 (as amended). Lenders submit information on existing loans and loan applications to the CCR. See more information here.

 

Credit: Credit includes loans, deferred payments and other financial accommodations, including (but not limited to) personal loans, mortgages and commercial loans. The CCR does not include utility loans and credit provided by one credit institution to another, amongst others.

 

Borrower: Borrowers include individuals, sole traders and companies. The CCR collects information on borrowers who have made a credit application, a credit agreement or are a guarantor. They are a person (i.e. an individual or a sole-trader) or a legal entity. Only companies are in scope of this publication.

 

Lender: The CCR collects data from Credit Information Providers (Lenders). This includes Banks, Non-Banks, Local Authorities, Government and Credit Unions. In the context of this publication, only Non-Bank Lenders are considered.

 

Credit agreement covered by Irish law: The CCR contains loans whose credit agreements are covered by Irish law. Examples of this are large corporates and individuals moving in and out of the state and across the border.

 

Bank: Bank refers to licenced credit institutions, as published on the Registers section of the Central Bank website, here. This means that lending by traditional retail banks, as well as lending by international banks with limited interaction with the general public, is considered within bank lending. It also includes, where identifiable, non-bank lending entities which are owned by banks, and are therefore considered to be part of a banking group. Bank loans are not in scope of this publication.

 

Non-bank: Lenders or holders of loans which are not banks, credit unions, or government-sponsored entities. Many non-bank lenders provide specific loans or cater for specific borrowers, such as property finance and asset finance and leasing. Others provide a combination of the aforementioned loan types. Non-banks that do not originate loans, but are holders, are not in scope of this publication.

 

Asset Finance Provider: Asset Finance firms provide credit in the form of products such as hire-purchase agreements, personal contract plans, leasing contract, or loans with assets as collateral. Asset finance allows businesses to access equipment without capital expenditure, or to release value from assets they already own. These entities can also be referred to as Leasing and Asset Finance Providers. For simplicity, we refer to them as Asset Finance Providers throughout this release.

 

Credit Union: A Credit Union is a financial co-operative formed for the promotion of thrift among its members by the accumulation of their savings; the creation of sources of credit for the mutual benefit of its members at a fair and reasonable rate of interest; and the use and control of members' savings for their mutual benefit. Credit Unions are out of scope for this publication.

 

Government: The Government sector refers to lending undertaken by any entity identified as being state controlled. This includes loans of local authorities, as well as other state bodies and agencies. It is out of scope for this publication.

 

Company Loans: This relates to loans given to companies as opposed to individuals or sole traders. It includes loans to financial borrowers, such as investment funds, as well as non-financial corporates.

 

Administrative Services:  For a detailed definition, please refer to the current version of the NACE Rev 2 Statistical classification of economic activities, in this link.

 

Wholesale and Retail:  For a detailed definition, please refer to the current version of the NACE Rev 2 Statistical classification of economic activities, in this link.

 

Large Enterprise: in the absence of a company size tag, a company is classified as large if that company, or its ultimate parent, meet any of the criteria below:

 

  •          It has more than 250 employees
  •          It has an annual turnover above €50mn
  •          It has a balance sheet above €43mn
  •          Has outstanding loans worth more than €30mn, or has been granted a single loan worth €30mn

 

SME (Small and Medium Enterprises): a company that does not meet any of the criteria below:

  •          It has more than 250 employees
  •          It has an annual turnover above €50mn
  •          It has a balance sheet above €43mn
  •          Has outstanding loans worth more than €30mn, or has been granted a single loan worth €30mn
   

 

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