Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Banks will be pushed into foreclosing on small businesses unable to repay Covid debt, a City insider has warned.
This is because foreclosing on SMEs unable to repay emergency coronavirus loans will be the only way banks can trigger the government’s guarantee to repay bad Covid debt. Banks would have to prove a loss before they can claim on the guarantee.
The government’s lending schemes have provided nearly £53bn to some 1.2m companies, including £35.5bn worth of bounce back loans — which include a 100 per cent guarantee for small business loans – and £13.7bn through the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS).
The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that in a worst-case scenario, £35bn of the Covid debt will never be repaid. The banks themselves believe that up to half of bounce back loans alone will never be repaid.
A Business Banking Resolution Service survey in May discovered that nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them.
The Treasury has turned a deaf ear to a City of London push for it to set up a bad COVID-19 debt bank, an idea proposed by Lord
Tag Archive for Small-business Banking
Hot Business News Today
Do you need a business bank account? Which one is right for you?
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Ben Lobel on Small Business
While it may be tempting to start your new business venture without looking at the need for a bank account dedicated to your business activity, this might not be the smartest of choices.
As your business grows and expands, it’s extremely important to separate your business finances from your personal, day-to-day living.
New start-ups and part-time business owners have a habit of co-mingling their finances with their personal money, and while it may be the easiest, most convenient and cheapest way of operating, it can have its drawbacks – especially further down the line.
Any prospective business owner should treat their business as a business, regardless of whether it’s a part-time venture or not; while setting up a separate business bank account means additional bank fees and expenses, you are also storing up a lot of hassle for yourself in the future.
Many people already in business will vouch that keeping your business spending separate to your personal account ensures better manageability.
And while many business current accounts available charge you for their services, there are others that waiver the charge as long as you pay in more than a certain amount each month.
Make sure that you shop
Hot Business News Today
What do SMEs think is the best business bank account? – survey
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Handelsbanken has been voted the clear winner when it comes to what SMEs think is the best business bank account.
The Swedish bank, which has more than 200 UK branches, came top of the leader board in four out of five categories, according to the latest Competition and Markets Authority survey published this month.
The bank was named best for overall service quality (79 per cent); relationship/account management (86 per cent); SME overdraft and loan services (78 per cent); and services in branches and business centres (73 per cent) for the fifth time by the survey.
>See also: Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
However, Barclays beat it to the top spot for online and mobile banking services.
BVA BDRC surveyed nearly 17,000 small business customers between July 2019 and June 2020, asking them if they would recommend their provider to other SMEs.
Mikael Sorensen, UK CEO of Handelsbanken, said: “We are particularly pleased to see this response coming from our SME customers, many of whom we have been working closely with to provide a range of tailored, flexible support.”
>See also: 12 of the best digital banking platforms for small business
Overall service quality – Handelsbanken
Handelsbanken was ranked
Hot Business News Today
Do you need a business bank account? Which one is right for you?
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Ben Lobel on Small Business
While it may be tempting to start your new business venture without looking at the need for a bank account dedicated to your business activity, this might not be the smartest of choices.
As your business grows and expands, it’s extremely important to separate your business finances from your personal, day-to-day living.
New start-ups and part-time business owners have a habit of co-mingling their finances with their personal money, and while it may be the easiest, most convenient and cheapest way of operating, it can have its drawbacks – especially further down the line.
Any prospective business owner should treat their business as a business, regardless of whether it’s a part-time venture or not; while setting up a separate business bank account means additional bank fees and expenses, you are also storing up a lot of hassle for yourself in the future.
Many people already in business will vouch that keeping your business spending separate to your personal account ensures better manageability.
And while many business current accounts available charge you for their services, there are others that waiver the charge as long as you pay in more than a certain amount each month.
Make sure that you shop
Hot Business News Today
What do SMEs think is the best business bank account?
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Handelsbanken has been voted the clear winner when it comes to what SMEs think is the best business bank account.
The Swedish bank, which has more than 200 UK branches, came top of the leader board in four out of five categories, according to the latest Competition and Markets Authority survey published this month.
The bank was named best for overall service quality (79 per cent); relationship/account management (86 per cent); SME overdraft and loan services (78 per cent); and services in branches and business centres (73 per cent) for the fifth time by the survey.
>See also: Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
However, Barclays beat it to the top spot for online and mobile banking services.
BVA BDRC surveyed nearly 17,000 small business customers between July 2019 and June 2020, asking them if they would recommend their provider to other SMEs.
Mikael Sorensen, UK CEO of Handelsbanken, said: “We are particularly pleased to see this response coming from our SME customers, many of whom we have been working closely with to provide a range of tailored, flexible support.”
>See also: 12 of the best digital banking platforms for small business
Overall service quality – Handelsbanken
Handelsbanken was ranked
Hot Business News Today
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
Hot Business News Today
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
Hot Business News Today
B-North plans to lend £1bn to small businesses within four years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
B-North, the Manchester-based small business lender, plans to lend over £1bn to small businesses within its first four years.
The lender, which hopes to secure a provisional banking licence within weeks, will rebrand as Bank North once the licence comes through.
Initially, B-North aims to lend about £50m as its systems are tested under the scrutiny of the banking regulator.
Filling the gap
B-North sees itself as filling the gap for small business lending as the Big Four banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest – have centralised lending decisions, concentrating on large firms, making it difficult for them to get into the intricacies of each small business.
At first, B-North will offer secured loans of between £500,000 and £5 million.
The service plans to start in Manchester but eventually it expects to have eight regional “lending pods”, each effectively a small bank on its own.
Its founders include Jonathan Thompson, a former Santander banker who will be its chief executive, and chairman Ron Emerson, who was founding chairman of the British Business Bank.
B-North says that it will offer the fast, technology-driven credit decisions of a fintech — it claims that it will be up to 10 times faster than a
Hot Business News Today
Treasury pushes to double bounce back loan repayment period to 10 years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is pushing for the bounce back loan repayment period to be doubled from five years to 10 years.
Both Government and banks that have jointly lent £33bn through the bounce back scheme are afraid of the looming wave of nonrepayment.
More than a million small companies have borrowed under the bounce back scheme, which offers loans of up to £50,000 and are covered by a 100-per-cent state guarantee.
The loans were launched in May after an outcry about the criteria attached to the coronavirus business interruption loans, which made it difficult for small businesses to qualify.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £53bn will eventually be handed to small firms in bounce back loans, with 40 per cent likely to default. This equates to costing the taxpayer £16bn in bad loans.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Bounce back loan repayment
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them. Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either bounce back loans or coronavirus business interruption loans said they do not believe the Government will chase the
Hot Business News Today
Treasury pushes to double bounce back loan repayment period to 10 years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is pushing for the bounce back loan repayment period to be doubled from five years to 10 years.
Both Government and banks that have jointly lent £33bn through the bounce back scheme are afraid of the looming wave of nonrepayment.
More than a million small companies have borrowed under the bounce back scheme, which offers loans of up to £50,000 and are covered by a 100-per-cent state guarantee.
The loans were launched in May after an outcry about the criteria attached to the coronavirus business interruption loans, which made it difficult for small businesses to qualify.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £53bn will eventually be handed to small firms in bounce back loans, with 40 per cent likely to default. This equates to costing the taxpayer £16bn in bad loans.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Bounce back loan repayment
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them. Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either bounce back loans or coronavirus business interruption loans said they do not believe the Government will chase the