Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses that feel they have been unfairly treated by the banks will have somewhere new to turn to from November.
Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) will open its doors to complaints from unhappy business banking customers from mid-November.
The dispute resolution service will adjudicate in arguments between banks and unhappy SME borrowers and means that businesses do not have to resort to expensive and risky litigation.
>See also: Nearly half of small businesses do not intend to repay government loans
However, the Business Banking Resolution Service will only be open to larger SMEs with turnover in excess of £6.5m a year and with assets of £7.5m on their books.
Microbusiness complaints will continue to be handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), particularly any disputes over bounce back loans.
BBRS has come into existence following widely publicised unhappiness from SMEs about how they were treated after the 2008 financial crisis, often with loans being unfairly called in without warning.
Following pressure from MPs, especially the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG), a working group with representatives from the SME Alliance, Federation of Small Business and others, set out plans for an impartial ombudsman.
>See also: Half of small
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Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses that feel they have been unfairly treated by the banks will have somewhere new to turn to from November.
Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) will open its doors to complaints from unhappy business banking customers from mid-November.
The dispute resolution service will adjudicate in arguments between banks and unhappy SME borrowers and means that businesses do not have to resort to expensive and risky litigation.
>See also: Nearly half of small businesses do not intend to repay government loans
However, the Business Banking Resolution Service will only be open to larger SMEs with turnover in excess of £6.5m a year and with assets of £7.5m on their books.
Microbusiness complaints will continue to be handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), particularly any disputes over bounce back loans.
BBRS has come into existence following widely publicised unhappiness from SMEs about how they were treated after the 2008 financial crisis, often with loans being unfairly called in without warning.
Following pressure from MPs, especially the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG), a working group with representatives from the SME Alliance, Federation of Small Business and others, set out plans for an impartial ombudsman.
>See also: Half of small
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Cashplus plans to lend £400m to small business from next year
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
EXCLUSIVE: Cashplus, one of Britain’s longest-established digital challenger banks, plans to lend £400m to small businesses over five years.
The fintech plans to have a 10pc market share of all new UK business accounts by 2024, compared with the 7pc share it already has today.
Cashplus applied to become a full-blown bank last year and expects to be authorized in Q1 2020 with the aim of becoming the specialist bank for small business. It already has around 75,000 business accounts.
>See also: Co-operative Bank to revolutionise small business banking offer
Unusually for a challenger bank, Cashplus has been in profit for the past eight years. In 2018-19 it generated £46.5m in turnover – a year-on-year increase of 19pc.
Should its banking licence be approved, Cashplus will fund its SME lending through the £500m of deposits it has built up since its launch in 2005.
Rich Wagner, chief executive of Cashplus, said: “The day we become a bank we will be able to unlock £400m of money and be able to lend that out to overlooked SMEs, which will almost supercharge our growth.”
Today, Cashplus has 250,00 customers, of which nearly one third are startups and entrepreneurs.
Since launch, Cashplus has expanded
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Co-operative Bank to revolutionise small business banking offer
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
EXCLUSIVE: The Co-operative Bank plans to expand its Co-op small business banking offer over the next year following its £15m grant funded by RBS.
Last month, the Co-op announced that increased its lending to small business customers for the first time in six years as it seeks to cast off its past problems.
The bank is matching the £15m Banking Competition Remedies grant with £17m of its own money.
See also: Nationwide wins £50m prize to help boost small business banking
The bank is the UK’s seventh biggest provider of loans to small businesses but put the brakes on lending in 2013 after discovering a £1.5bn hole in its finances that threatened its survival.
Donald Kerr, managing director of SME banking, told Small Business that the bank will:
Put a small-business focused relationship manager back into branches
Introduce same-day business bank account opening next year
Modernise its online banking platform, making it much easier for SMEs to integrate online accounting packages
Launch a mobile app for business customers next year
Introduce its own-brand accountancy package in partnership with a Manchester-based fintech
Offer a three-month cash flow facility based on transaction history
This is in addition to offering 30 months’ free banking to new customers in
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Government launches Business Finance Council to help small businesses
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government has established a Business Finance Council to help small businesses access funding once the UK has left the European Union.
Business secretary Andrea Leadsom will co-chair the council with economic secretary John Glen, which will be made up of representatives from high-street banks and alternative lenders.
The council will identify and help overcome any barriers faced by small and medium-sized businesses in securing the finance they need, particularly working capital and investment.
Leadsom said: “Our new Business Finance Council will bring together key players, ensuring that finance continues to flow to our brilliant businesses so they can do just that.”
Glen added: “It’s vital that businesses engage with their lenders ahead of Brexit and the new Business Finance Council will ensure government, banks and other lenders work together to help SMEs access the finance they need.”
Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no-deal preparations and small business minister Kelly Tolhurst were also present at the meeting on Thursday.
Banks and alternative lenders summoned to the Cabinet Office included Barclays, Bibby Financial Services, British Business Bank, Close Brothers, CYBG/Virgin Money, Funding Circle, HSBC, Lloyds, Metro Bank, RBS, Santander, Secure Trust Bank, Shawbrook, TSB and UK Finance.
“The mood
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Barclays rapped by UK watchdog over way it treats small business
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Barclays has refunded small business clients an average of £2.50 each after it misled them into opening unnecessary current accounts to access other services such as loans.
About 800 affected Barclays small business clients shared the £2,000 compensation.
The financial services group reported pre-tax profits of £1.5bn in the first quarter.
Britain’s competition watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority has told Barclays to improve the way it treats small businesses. The rules, which Barclays signed up to in 2002, prevent banks from insisting that businesses open or maintain current accounts before they can access other products.
Barclays breached the rules by preventing small and medium-sized businesses that had premium accounts from transferring funds to or from accounts outside Barclays, and also by telling deposit account holders that they had to open a current account as well.
However, the Competition and Markets Authority is prevented from imposing fines for flouting rules.
“The bank’s actions led to unnecessary costs to some SMEs who were made to hold accounts they did not need,” the CMA said.
But it was Barclays itself that turned whistle blower, reporting its transgression to the CMA, and it has since moved to patch the problem, allowing affected customers
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Lending to SMEs plummets: 84 per cent of country saw fall over past year
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
SME lending has fallen majorly in the last year, according to new figures. A whopping 84 per cent of the country saw bank lending to SMEs plummet as small businesses continue to face huge headwinds in securing finance, says Hadrian’s Wall Capital (HWC), the London-based specialist debt adviser. HWC says that 101 of 120 areas
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Business growth stalled by slow bank lending warns market leader
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
The market leader in secured bank lending to wealthy clients has warned that the banking industry must improve speed of access to finance for business owners, or risk a continued slowdown in business investment. The comment comes as the ONS releases its quarterly GDP data. According to the latest preliminary data released Friday (28 April),
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£1 billion support package pledged to support UK businesses
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
Metro Bank has today signalled that it is open for business with £1 billion of funds ring-fenced for 2017 to lend to both new and existing business and commercial customers. The bank has a clear track record in supporting businesses, lending over £544 million to its business and commercial customers in 2015, as well as
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