Who are the top UK invoice finance lenders in 2026?

Who is winning the UK invoice finance market in 2026?

Bibby Finance is the outright volume leader, with 297 new IF charges registered between January and May 2026, up 34 charges (+12.9%) on the same period in 2025. eCapital Commercial Finance ranks second with 172 charges (+22.9%), followed by RBS Invoice Finance (140), Lloyds Commercial Finance (133) and Close Brothers (123). The standout growth story is Apollo Business Finance, up 42 charges to 115, a rise of 57.5%, the fastest growth rate of any major lender tracked.

The headline market figure looks weaker than the underlying picture. Total YTD charges across the market fell 7.0%, from 2,091 in 2025 to 1,945 in 2026, according to Spark Intel's May 2026 monthly invoice finance report. However, 2025 volumes were inflated by a one-off ABN Amro book transfer (approximately 176 charges) and an HSBC-to-4SYTE cohort migration (approximately 11 charges). Stripping these out, the adjusted 2025 comparable is closer to 1,904, meaning 2026 is running roughly 2% ahead of the underlying prior-year trend rather than behind it.

Within the four core segments Spark Intel tracks by name, banks show the clearest genuine decline. Combined bank charge volumes fell from 489 to 403, down 17.6%, led by Lloyds Commercial Finance (-63, -32.1%) and Metro Bank IF (-19, -61.3%). Large independents fell just 3.3% (931 to 900), mid-tier independents grew 1.7% (412 to 419), and specialists fell sharply, down 16.9% (189 to 157), driven largely by a collapse at Zodeq (-45 YTD).

Key insights

• Bibby Finance leads the market with 297 charges YTD 2026, up 12.9% year on year, its highest YTD total on record.
• Apollo Business Finance is the fastest-growing major lender, up 42 charges to 115 (+57.5%), which Spark Intel's analysis flags as the standout growth story of 2026 so far.
• Headline YTD volumes fell 7.0% (2,091 to 1,945), but this is overstated: adjusting for a one-off 2025 ABN Amro book transfer and an HSBC-to-4SYTE migration, 2026 is running around 2% ahead of 2025 on a like-for-like basis.
• Bank lender volumes fell 17.6% YTD (489 to 403), the sharpest decline of the four tracked segments, led by Lloyds (-32.1%) and Metro Bank IF (-61.3%).
• Large independents fell just 3.3% (931 to 900); mid-tier independents grew 1.7% (412 to 419); specialists fell 16.9% (189 to 157), with Zodeq down 45 YTD.
• The four named segments account for around 97% of total tracked market volume in both years; the remainder reflects smaller or newly identified lenders outside Spark Intel's core tracked cohort.

Top 10 UK invoice finance lenders, January to May 2026

Bank lenders

Large independents

Mid-tier independents

Specialists

What this means

The real story in 2026 is redistribution rather than outright market shrinkage. Once one-off 2025 book transfers are stripped out, overall volumes are running modestly ahead of last year, so the headline -7.0% figure overstates any genuine slowdown. Within that broadly flat market, banks are still retreating in earnest, down 17.6% YTD, and that business is going to independents rather than disappearing. Bibby Finance's continued scale growth and Apollo Business Finance's 57.5% surge both point to strong new-to-IF origination rather than simply switching, while the sharp fall among specialists (-16.9%) suggests that segment is losing ground to larger, better-capitalised independents. Lenders and brokers should read the market as consolidating around a smaller number of scaled independents, rather than contracting overall.