In conjunction with Small Firms Association, the IBCB was pleased to host a customer listening session on 6th February attended by SME owners and various industry stakeholders that included Micro Finance Ireland, SBCI, Credit Union, Credit Review Office and Social Finance Foundation together with senior commercial representatives from the Member Banks, AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB.
This engagement followed on from the éist 2024 Public Trust in Banking survey (released in December 2024) which includes SMEs as part of the survey population. The feedback obtained from the listening session helps to provide valuable insights to improve customer outcomes.
The topics for discussion included:
Access to Staff: Feedback included challenges customers have when seeking access to Bank staff. Examples included applying for finance and one off or complex queries when the customer felt a discussion with a member of staff would be helpful.
Contact Details: Other feedback highlighted the need for clear contact details on Bank web sites for SME support(s) to help customers determine who to contact, in case of need.
Access to Credit: Discussions around access to credit, included a specific challenge that funding for start-ups appear to be increasingly difficult to realise at the current time. The Member Banks highlighted the importance for realistic projections within a business plan to compensate for no track record given the reliance on cash flow for repayment particularly if collateral does not feature.
Competition: The discussion also highlighted the role that alternative and non-bank funders provide in the marketplace to provide competition and further options for SMEs. There is an onus for Member Banks to keep up to date on the competition and the products that are available to help SMEs.
Market Concerns: The current macro challenges and concerns included rising costs, bureaucracy and labour supply, specifically recruiting and retaining good staff. Feedback also highlighted how much time was spent by promoters on managing cash flow.
Banks role in communities: There was positive recognition around the role Banks play in society and communities. A challenge was made as to whether Banks could do more to help the bigger challenges across society including housing and climate change.
The feedback from 8th February has been shared with the Member Banks to gain their insights. The response has constructively welcomed the feedback as helping to understand what is going well and where the Member Banks need to review.
The Member Banks have committed to ongoing staff training and awareness to include non-bank and alternative funders together with the role of other agencies that support the SME ecosystem, namely SBCI / Micro-Finance Ireland / CRO.
Bank web sites have been reviewed to ensure signposting to various supports and bank staff are direct and helpful. The Member Banks all confirmed their ongoing support for SME and highlighted the importance for SMEs to realise their business potential, employing staff and contributing to the local and Irish economy.
Sue O’Neill, IBCB Board Member and attendee commented that customer listening session are essential for Banks and stakeholders to better understand what is going well and to appreciate what more could be done to support customer outcomes and welcomed the constructive discussions.
The IBCB continues to work with the Farming community following our activity in previous years. The current engagement programme has involved meetings with the various Farming Organisations across Ireland whose total membership is over 100,000 to better understand their banking needs.
These discussions have provided insights as to how farmers view the IBCB Member Bank service and the levels of trust particularly in a digital age. The Work Programme has relayed this feedback directly to the Board and the Member Banks for their address and responses.
This work has led to further updates with the Farming Organisations with clear commitments from the Member Banks around service and support to the farming sector. Within this work, our Member Banks have also reviewed their web sites to ensure contact and location details for Bank Agri staff were clear for customers, alongside other supports to help customers particularly when accessing credit facilities. These meetings also identified the strategic challenges facing the industry including succession and sustainability.
The IBCB will continue this engagement including a Round Table Forum 2025 to facilitate ongoing engagement between Farming Organisations and Member Banks.
The IBCB, Member Banks, Farming Organisations plus other industry stakeholders are committed to the Round Table forum scheduled in 2025 to address the feedback and strategic challenges.
Gary Duffy, Head of Customer Policy at IBCB is interviewed for an article in SFA’s Better Business Spring 2024 edition which sets out the case for developing a good relationship with your Bank. Gary covers the importance of having sufficient working capital through to the risks attached to expanding a Business and why all of these issues can be supported, if early engagement is instigated with timely provision of financial information. A good relationship built on trust and confidence can help a business realise its potential.
See full article at https://www.ibec.ie/sfa/your-sfa/better-business-magazine
Link to the article – Building a relationship with your bank 11 May 2023 (farmersjournal.ie)
In January 2022 the IBCB facilitated a roundtable meeting with Microfinance Ireland (MFI) and member banks. MFI receives funding in part through our member banks and provides small loans to small businesses to help start-ups and established businesses to get the finance they need for their business. The focus of this meeting was as an initial roundtable discussion, and it was an opportunity for both the MFI and the banks to listen to and learn from each other regarding steps that can improve the overall process for micro-businesses to access loans.
The next steps following this discussion were that member banks and MFI agreed to look at means to improve referrals and capture more information, including such mechanisms as raising awareness of MFI with advisors and assessing which channels work best for customers, with each bank working directly with MFI on these details. Member banks and MFI also agreed to individually meet on a regular basis to ensure there is good communication between organisations and to assist with improving staff awareness in banks.
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted all aspects of Irish society and the economy and in particular, caused significant challenges for many SMEs. The IBCB consulted with key SME stakeholders and heard feedback that businesses found it difficult to navigate the range of supports available and information required to support applications was not always readily available. We raised these issues with our member banks and welcomed the significant effort made by them to put in place a range of support options for customers, including payment breaks and ongoing supports.
We ran a workshop in July 2020 with representatives from our member banks, the Small Firms Association, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, and the Department of Business Enterprise and Innovation to discuss the challenges facing small business and to identify actions to support businesses. Arising from this workshop, the IBCB created our ‘Support, Share, Signpost’ initiative which looks to raise financial awareness for SMEs and Farmers through sharing and signposting relevant key information. As part of this initiative we: