The company – which is owned by businessman Dave Fishwick (pictured above) – will use the funding to support its application to become an authorised UK bank.

Having already lent nearly £20m to over 3,000 qualifying borrowers across the UK, the business hopes that becoming an authorised bank will allow it to expand its reach.

Once authorised, it will be known as Bank of Dave and is forecasting to achieve an annual operating profit of £4.5m before tax in year five of its plan.

Burnley Savings and Loans was established in 2011 in the wake of the financial crash and the impact it had on the North of England.

The business aims to provide affordable loans to individuals and SMEs who do not have access to mainstream finance.

“The core vision for Bank of Dave is to create an ethical, successful and sustainable bank which is distinctive from established UK banks, which we believe are falling short on supporting underserved individuals and small business,” said Dave.

“We have had a brilliant few years acting as a savings and loans provider, but the opportunity to become a fully authorised UK bank will expand our horizons even further, enabling us to help more people across the UK.

“We are delighted to be launching our first ever funding round on Seedrs, giving our hundreds of thousands of amazing supporters a chance to share in a new UK-owned high street bank.”

The funding raised on Seedrs will be used to support the procurement of IT systems and building of the bank’s infrastructure needed in preparation of it becoming an authorised bank.

“We are going through the authorisation process to become an authorised UK bank and are advancing towards this goal,” said Jim Bradley, CEO at Burnley Savings and Loans.

“We continue to witness a real market demand for financial providers that offer essential banking services to customers that traditionally find it difficult or are unable to access affordable credit.

“We are confident that once fully authorised that the Bank of Dave will be the bank that delivers this capability.”