Banks must get going on lending

The improvement in bank lending revealed in the Department of Finance's SME Lending Demand Survey, published last week, was welcome, writes Patricia Callan.

Patricia Callan: 't is clear that the banks still have a long way to go to standardise the customer experience at branch level.'
Patricia Callan: 't is clear that the banks still have a long way to go to standardise the customer experience at branch level.'

The improvement in bank lending revealed in the Department of Finance's SME Lending Demand Survey, published last week, was welcome.

An increasing number of SMEs (39 per cent) are now seeking credit. Of these, 76 per cent of applications had been approved by the banks.

With a quarter of SMEs still facing ...