geo/australia
The Small Business Festival, presented by Small Business Victoria which takes place Aug 1-31 in Victoria, Australia will give SMEs an opportunity to gain useful information, build professional networks and enhance financial management skills.
A representative from Common Wealth Bank of Australia, a SME Finance Forum member, will speak on the topic Innovation and Technology on Aug. 6. SMEs will have the chance to tackle the following statement during the session:
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, released a report from the Affordable Capital for SME Growth inquiry on June 29.
Launched in April 2018, the inquiry explored the range of international and national initiatives that sought to address the funding gap for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Lenders consider SME’s high risk and offer capital with restrictive terms and conditions, at interest rates few can afford and demand bricks and mortar – usually the family home - as security.
The inquiry examined:
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), FinTech Australia and theBankDoctor.org released a report on February 28, 2018, which outlines the steps taken by fintech lenders to increase transparency and disclosure.
The report, Fintech Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Improving Transparency and Disclosure, analyses the different approaches to disclosure across the fintech industry and makes recommendations on best practice and identifies commitments to action.
Items for action in the report include:
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman released a study into factors impacting small to medium enterprise investment. Speaking at the Institute of Public Accountants national conference on the Gold Coast, Ombudsman Kate Carnell said barriers to investment included access to capital, red tape and energy prices.
The report highlights that whilst alternative finance remains small as a proportion of overall credit outstanding in the financial system of many countries, it is growing rapidly. Australia is fast becoming a regional leader (behind China), which is evidenced by the substantial growth of alternative finance compared with the low base of US$27 million reported in 2013.
Intersekt is a seven day event aiming to be the Asia-Pacific’s most influential and exciting fintech festival.
The event will attract world-class thought leaders and influencers in an industry which is transforming financial services around the world.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) is looking to build business outside of home loans, mostly in SME lending. A recent report in The Australian revealed news that the NAB is adding new features to its small business lending unit, QuickBiz, in an effort to build market share.
Fintech leaders are wanted to bring transparency in the Australian small business sector. Ombudsman Kate Carnell launched a research project this week with FinTech Australia and independent SME finance expert Neil Slonim from theBankDoctor.org. The project will survey fintech small business lenders to identify industry best practice to help SMEs better understand their fintech borrowing options.
While tighter banking restrictions have forced more small and medium enterprise (SME) borrowers towards non-bank lenders, a lack of awareness is still hindering real growth within the sector. The Disruption Index, which has been jointly developed by small business lender Moula and research and consulting firm Digital Finance Analytics (DFA), puts the score for Q1 2017 at 38.39, which is 6.1% higher than the score of 36.18 recorded in the same time period a year ago. Despite this, only gradual change has been made to grow awareness amongst SMEs about these alternatives.
Online lender Spotcap and national aggregator eChoice have simultaneously released two digital tools to assist clients and brokers with small business lending.
Spotcap’s offering is an online portal to help explain and bring further awareness to the different non-bank lending options available for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).
