ANZ Bank recently announced their plan to lend $1 billion to new businesses to demonstrate their commitment to Australia’s small business sector.
This announcement follows Australia’s Money Confidence survey of almost 12,000 Australian adults, which found that 39 percent of new small business owners had trouble getting access to finance through banks in October and November of 2012, while 69 percent had to cut back on personal expenses when the business was low on cash.
“We know the first few years of running a small business can be challenging, so today we’re pledging to lend $1 billion over the next 12 months to make it easier for Australians to realise their business dreams,” said Nick Reade, ANZ General Manager Small Business Banking.
Reade explained that many small business owners are under the false assumption that big banks are only willing to provide loans to big businesses, whereas evidence reveals otherwise.
“A lot of new small business owners think that it’s only big businesses that get loans from the banks, but that’s not the case. In the last year, we approved more than seven out of every 10 lending applications from new small businesses,” he said.
ANZ advised that to apply for a small business loan, customers need to present a business plan, cash flow forecast, recent personal tax returns and no negative credit rating.
More information and tools customers need to apply for lending is available via the ANZ Small Business Hub.
