Traditional lenders fail SME's

Traditional lenders failing to bank on SMEs? Greg Carter, chief executive of Growth Street, looks at the Bank of England’s plan to champion a data platform to help SMEs applying for credit. He notes that in announcing the initiative, BoE Governor Mark Carney pointed to the fact that despite SMEs facing a £22bn funding gap, almost half don’t plan to use external finance due to the hassle or time associated with applying – factors the data platform will look to address. Mr Carter asks why traditional banks have not taken the same path as “innovative finance providers” in embracing and investing in automation of data analysis. He voices a belief that “the reason is simple: it is not profitable for them to do so.”