Ayan Capital secures £75m facility, eyes UK banking licence

Triple Point has arranged a senior Shariah-compliant facility of up to £75m for Ayan Capital, the two firms said in announcements published on 8 and 9 September 2026. The facility, structured as an ijara-based line, is intended to refinance an existing lender and fund further originations in Ayan's rent-to-buy car-finance business. Neither party disclosed the amount drawn, the tenor, pricing, the security package or a deployment timetable.

The financing lands as Ayan prepares a bigger regulatory step. The company said in October 2025 that it intended to apply for a UK banking licence in 2026, and FinTech Futures reported on 21 September 2026 that Ayan was preparing to file that application and planned to open a Series A funding round in the coming months to help pay for it. Ayan's regulated car-finance product is already live; the company's reported next steps — cards, savings and a full-service digital bank — remain plans rather than completed developments.

For UK readers, the distinction that matters is regulatory. Ayan Capital Ltd says it holds Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation to carry out specified consumer-credit activity, including entering into regulated consumer-credit agreements as lender. That is not the same as a banking licence, and it does not permit Ayan to accept customer deposits.

What the facility is for

Under Ayan's ijara model, the company buys and owns the vehicle for the length of the rental agreement, carries the ownership risk itself, and receives fixed monthly rental payments agreed with the customer at the outset. Ayan and Triple Point describe this model as Shariah-compliant. The Financial Conduct Authority's technical annex to its motor-finance market consultation, published 7 October 2025, separately identified Ayan as having launched Shariah-compliant motor finance for sole traders and SMEs in 2024, describing its rent-to-buy model as an alternative to traditional hire purchase.

Ayan says the new facility should lower its funding costs, support more competitive pricing for eligible customers, and fund the launch of AyanCare, an optional product under which Ayan takes on specified mechanical and electrical repair responsibilities. These are the company's own expectations; no disclosed facility pricing or customer-rate data in the public announcements independently confirms the scale of any cost reduction or when, if at all, it would reach customer pricing.

As with any regulated consumer-credit agreement, a rent-to-buy arrangement carries risk for the customer: it involves a legal commitment to fixed payments over the agreed term, and missed payments may affect the customer's credit standing. The material reviewed for this article does not set out the detailed arrears process or the consequences for vehicle recovery if payments are missed; prospective customers should consult Ayan's formal consumer agreement for those terms rather than this article. Ayan's own marketing material shows rates starting at 7.9% APR-equivalent, with a representative rate of 11.9% APR-equivalent, as of 21 September 2026 — figures that are subject to eligibility and separate from the commercial terms of the Triple Point facility itself.

What £75m does and does not confirm

"Up to £75m" is a maximum facility size, not a confirmed drawn amount. Ayan and Triple Point have not said how much of the line has been advanced, how it is split between refinancing existing debt and funding new originations, or what security or covenants attach to it. A Companies House filing shows a new charge created over Ayan Capital Ltd on 31 July 2026 and registered on 4 August 2026, alongside the satisfaction of two earlier charges on 15 August 2026. The public facility announcements do not confirm whether this filing relates to the Triple Point transaction.

The facility is also debt, not equity, and separate from the Series A that Ayan is reportedly planning to fund its banking-licence application (see below).

Ayan's current regulatory position

Ayan Capital Ltd is the entity identified in the company's own website footer as authorised and regulated by the FCA, under firm reference number 1022208, for specified activities. The company's October 2025 announcement describes that permission as covering regulated consumer-credit agreements as lender. Ayan's own site notes that FCA regulation applies only to specified activities, not to everything the group does.

A separate group company, Ayan Capital 1 Ltd, is registered with the FCA under firm reference number 1021505 for anti-money-laundering purposes only. Ayan's website states that all services supplied by that company are unregulated. Readers should not treat the two entities, or their FCA statuses, as interchangeable.

Companies House records Ayan Capital Ltd as an active English private company, number 15123809, incorporated on 8 September 2023. Ayan Capital 1 Ltd, number 15996246, is recorded as an active non-deposit-taking finance company controlled by Ayan Capital Ltd.

Why a banking licence is a different threshold

A firm that wants to operate as a bank in the UK must be authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), with the consent of the FCA. This is guidance from the Bank of England's New Bank Start-up Unit, not a description of Ayan's current status: an existing FCA solo-regulated firm that wants to add deposit-taking has to apply to vary its permissions and go through the standard bank-authorisation process. Both regulators assess the applicant against their respective Threshold Conditions, covering matters including financial resources, the suitability of the firm and its management, whether it can be effectively supervised, and whether its business model is viable.

Figures and process details as stated by the Bank of England's New Bank Start-up Unit as of 21 September 2026.

Ayan said in October 2025 that it intended to apply for a UK banking licence in 2026, and FinTech Futures reported on 21 September 2026 that the company was preparing to file. No public source in the available material confirms that Ayan has submitted an application, entered the regulators' pre-application process, or received a decision from either regulator. Submitting an application would not guarantee authorisation.

Cards, savings and the funding needed to get there

FinTech Futures reported that Ayan's planned product sequence runs from halal car finance to cards, then savings, and ultimately a full-service digital bank. These remain reported plans, not launches. Cards would likely require separate consumer-credit or payment-services permissions from those Ayan holds today; savings deposits would require either the deposit-taking permission that comes with bank authorisation or a partnership with an already-authorised deposit-taker. The available material does not say which route Ayan intends to take, or whether any future savings product would carry Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection.

FinTech Futures also reported that Ayan planned to open a Series A funding round in the coming months specifically to help fund the banking-licence application process. This is attributed to the company; no public terms have been disclosed.

Demand figures and an unresolved discrepancy

FinTech Futures reported, citing Ayan, that more than 150,000 people have started an application for its rent-to-buy car-finance product since launch. The company has not published the measurement period, a definition of what counts as "started," or how many of those applications were completed or approved, and no independent data verifies the figure.

Separately, public sources disagree on the size of Ayan's earlier equity financing. Ayan's own website states the round, reported in December 2024, totalled £2.8m; FinTech Futures reports £3.4m. Available material does not explain the gap — it may reflect different round definitions, closing dates or currency treatment — and this article does not resolve it.

What to watch

Confirmation of a formally submitted banking-licence application, and any indication that Ayan has entered the PRA and FCA's pre-application process, would mark a concrete step beyond the current stated intention. Readers should also look for: the terms of the proposed Series A once announced; disclosure of which Ayan group entity is the legal borrower under the Triple Point facility and how much has actually been drawn; launch details, permissions and any partner arrangements for cards and savings; and clarity on the £2.8m/£3.4m discrepancy in Ayan's 2024 funding. Anyone checking Ayan Capital Ltd's current permissions should consult the FCA's Financial Services Register directly using firm reference number 1022208, rather than relying on marketing material alone.