The purpose of the Capability and Innovation Fund was to encourage eligible bodies to:
- develop and improve their capability to compete with NatWest in the provision of banking services to SMEs; and
- develop and improve the financial products and services which are available to SMEs.
The Capability and Innovation Fund comprised a total of £425 million which was divided into six pools. BCR was responsible for evaluating the applications and disbursing the funds. Following the termination of the Capability and Innovation Fund Agreements [on 31 December 2022] and two awardees having fully delivered their commitments, BCR is now in an informal reporting phase for the remaining 24 awards.