Future Finance, a specialist financial services company established in Dublin last year to provide loans to college students across Europe, is to double its employee numbers to 100 over the next two years, and it plans to provide loans to Irish students before the end of the year.

The company is currently offering loans to students in the UK, it has received more than 25,000 applications over the past sixteen months and is currently lending close to £1m per week.

Future Finance says it uses specialist software to assess the future earnings potential of students who have not yet built up a credit history.

It will offer loans to students here ranging from €2,500 to €40,000 per academic year to help cover tuition and living expenses.

The company charges an average APR of close to 12%, Future Finance chief Executive, Brian Norton joined Vincent Wall on Breakfast Business - he asked him how this company differs from mainstream bank lenders in any other way.

"We are certainly a lot cheaper than other options that students occasionally turn to," he says, adding that the company is also set up to make it easy for students to engage with them.