Oxygen Finance is celebrating the fifth anniversary of FreePay this summer with over £1bn paid early to small and micro businesses for free since the scheme’s launch. FreePay enables public organisations to pay local small and micro suppliers early without charge, supporting growth, creating social value through job creation, and speeding up payments where cash is most needed.

Over 350,000 invoices have been paid early for free and over 9,000 suppliers are now registered for the FreePay programme. Payments are made in less than half the contracted time and the average across all FreePay invoices this year is 8 days.

Faster payment for free reduces the need for small and micro businesses to seek alternative funding. Small businesses waiting for payment may turn to bank loans; conservative estimates show FreePay has potentially saved businesses over £1.5 million in bank interest by accelerating invoice payment, those savings instead being used to fuel business growth and support local jobs.

Some of the largest councils in the country use FreePay as part of their strategy to deliver on their social value commitments. We’re incredibly proud of what our clients have achieved in this area and the liquidity they have been able to provide to local economies.

“Getting money into the hands of smaller businesses earlier reduces uncertainty and increases confidence, which is good for jobs and society.” – Liz Barclay, Small Business Commissioner

“FreePay provides significant benefits to our suppliers with hundreds of firms receiving payments quickly and efficiently… getting paid fast can be a lifeline.” – Cllr Paul Johnson, Flintshire Council, Cabinet Member for Finance, Social Value & Procurement.

Ben Jackson CEO of Oxygen Finance comments “We’re committed to the creation of social value and to advancing corporate social responsibility and I’m delighted to see all that has been achieved by our clients and the much-needed boost FreePay has given local economies.

“Oxygen led the way by introducing FreePay to the industry, with clients readily supporting the initiative. I’m particularly proud of how we were able to help councils get early payment to their suppliers through the pandemic when small businesses urgently needed support.”

To celebrate this achievement, we’ve brought together some of FreePay’s big milestones over the past five years: