Revolut research: 42% of SMEs are looking to change banks in the next 12 months

March 25th, 2020 – A paper published by Revolut, entitled “2020 Vision: Taking a closer look at antiquated business practices”, states that 42% of SMEs are looking to change banks in the next 12 months, owing to changing expectations and demands of businesses.

The research was based on surveying 602 business owners, managers and financial directors from companies in the UK, France and Poland with 250 employees or fewer.

Any widespread desire of SMEs to seek new banking providers will be good news for recent entrants in business banking.

Monzo announced its plans to start providing business accounts earlier this month, while Starling Bank has recently expanded its business offering that it first launched in 2018. Revolut itself has been offering multi-currency business accounts since 2017.

Revolut’s research however finds that UK businesses are rather less likely to bank with multiple providers than their counterparts elsewhere. 37% of UK SMEs have two or more banking relationships, compared to 65% in Poland and 49% in France.

This suggests that digital challengers may find it difficult to replicate their success in personal banking of growing market share by becoming a customers’ secondary or tertiary account.

According to the research, 63% of business owners have not switched their provider in five or more years, with some 23% not having changed since 2008. Additionally, 79% still have their primary relationship with a major high-street bank.

An existing personal banking relationship is the most common reason cited for how businesses choose their provider, with 42% of UK respondents saying so.

The number of accounts held with digital banking startups stands just shy of 20 million in the UK as of late 2019, according to Accenture, which suggests that there is a healthy client base for them to target to grow their business banking footprint.

More…https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35513/revolut-research-42-of-smes-are-looking-to-change-banks-in-the-next-12-months/retail

Written by Finextra