Banks Offering Credit to UK Tech Companies, but Falling Short on Services
A new report from Comarch has shown that banks are making credit available to companies in London’s Tech City, offering them attractive interest rates and straightforward lending processes. However, while banks are delivering on credit, they are failing to offer the value added services that could help these companies thrive.
For the ‘Banking on Tech City’ report, Comarch gained access to over 50 Tech City companies to ask them about the service they received from their banks. The results showed high levels of satisfaction over credit. Almost two-thirds (63%) of Tech City companies are happy with lending policies when it comes to getting credit. Only 12% have been refused credit, while just 18% believe interest rates are unattractive.
Despite the positivity around credit, the report also found that companies are not happy about the level of services that their banking partners are offering. For example, only 27.5% had been offered payment automations by their banks, and just 8% had been offered cash flow forecasting. This is important for corporates, as 57% of respondents believe that tailored banking services could help their business grow, while 31% would be willing to switch bank accounts to get better services.
Smaller companies are particularly frustrated with the choice of services on offer to them. Only 48% of micro-enterprises (those who employ fewer than 10 staff) are happy with their business banking.