Banks are being called upon to continue to improve their performance when dealing with small businesses, according to a new report.
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has published a report which examines the service banks provide for small businesses.
The report, based on a survey of around 3,700 firms, looks at areas such as bank performance, bank switching, tracking transactions, transmission charges and the impact of recommendations from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The FPB awarded the title of ‘best bank’ jointly to Allied Irish Bank and Yorkshire Bank, who both gained the same score in terms of performance.
“On the whole, banks are becoming more aware of the needs of smaller firms,” said Nick Goulding, chief executive of the FPB.
“It seems that the OFT has been successful in its drive to encourage competition and to make banks more responsive to the needs of their customers.
“We now look to these banks to continue their drive and raise the bar even further in terms of catering for smaller businesses.”
Goulding also noted that businesses were now more inclined to change banks than in previous years.
“The past three surveys have indicated that the percentage of those businesses who were not considering changing bank has fallen from 63.8% in 2002, to 58.3% in 2006,” said Goulding.
“This shows that firms are becoming inclined to shop around for the best deal.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006
