Dramatic increase in SMEs wanting to demonstrate financial health and prove resilience
Recent stats shows that more than eight in ten SME finance brokers (82%) agree that major banks have reduced their appetite to fund SMEs, while nearly half of brokers (49%) report that more of their clients’ applications for finance were rejected compared to the previous month.
As a response to this, Credit Passport® by CRIF has seen a dramatic increase in its SME customers actively wanting to improve their lending profile, demonstrate their financial health, and prove their resilience.
Some key stats below:
- SMEs wanting to improve their lending profile – up from 8% in 2022, to 39% in 2023
- SMEs wanting to demonstrate their financial health to customers and suppliers – up from 4% in 2022, to 32% in 2023
- SMEs wanting to build and demonstrate resilience – up from 8% in 2022, to 23% in 2023
These stats come as the appetite for better, more transparent business credit scoring is being recognised across the board, with too many small businesses currently locked out of traditional borrowing due to due to complex and fragmented data requirements.
Last month the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and a group of leading fintechs called on the government to improve small businesses’ access to borrowing by increasing data sharing initiatives. By utilising open banking data, the group are urging the government to support the development of an ‘SME funding passport’, containing all the standardised financial data needed to enable firms to borrow more easily.
Credit Passport® by CRIF already offers this technology, leveraging open banking to give lenders the tools to assess risk and creditworthiness with accuracy. It has over 30,000 directly registered SMEs and provides tailored offers from over 100 lenders.
Credit Passport® by CRIF is engaging with the group to understand how they can support on this important initiative.
