PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
“Traditional high street banks often … have a very low appetite for approving SMEs ”
ROB STRAATHOF CEO OF LIBERIS
How to choose the right bank for an SME Ultimately , small business owners need to shop around for the right banking services and make sure they choose a fintech that best suits their needs . Straathof says the standard functionality needs to be there , but there are a whole host of questions a business needs to ask itself . These are :
• Does the bank integrate with Open Banking ?
• Does it integrate with your accounting packages ?
• Does it have automated cashflow forecasting ?
• Do they have adequate SME lending products ?
He points out that many challenger banks don ’ t have SME lending products yet , while “ the traditional high street banks often do have appropriate lending products available but have a very low appetite for approving SMEs ”.
It ’ s not yet an easy task to find the right banking partner . So , the question is , which bank fits specific requirements such as Open Banking , cashflow forecasting , integration into accounting packages , and business finance ?
“ These can be difficult questions to answer upfront but should be explored nevertheless . Companies like Liberis are agnostic and can work with many different ecosystems to provide the right funding , to the right businesses , at the right time by using and leveraging the data that they have .”
The future of SME banking and fintechs “ If we look at the trends in retail banking ,
98 July 2022