Five of the UK’s biggest banks are launching a campaign encouraging SMEs to borrow, in response to criticism that they are reluctant to lend.
Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Santander have joined together to launch the campaign, overseen by the British Banker’s Association (BBA).
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BBA CEO Anthony Browne said: "We’ve launched this campaign to let businesses know that they are a lot more likely to get finance than they think.
"This matters because more successful loan applications mean more orders for equipment, more new jobs and more plans to expand."
The banks have fought to defend themselves, saying that the low rate of lending to SMEs is a reflection of subdued demand.
The BBA appeared to back this up, saying it had identified that 270,000 (or 6%) of the small or medium sized businesses in the UK wanted to apply for funding but did not.
It pointed to research it revealing that only 37% of SMEs planning to apply for finance believe they will get approval from their bank, while actual approval rates are almost 67%.
Browne said: "Small businesses are the engine room of the economy and the research we publish today shows how much stronger our recovery could be if more SMEs approached their banks for finance."
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