Bank of Ireland: Credit approval rate at more than 80%

Bank of Ireland said today that it had approval and decline levels broadly consistent with those in the Mazars study.

The report - which was commissioned by the Department of Finance and examined 1,500 SMEs in the same period - established banks were meeting the demand from small businesses.

A Central Bank report today however claimed that more than one in four small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have been turned down for a loan or overdraft in the six months to March - double the eurozone average.

Less than 500 firms were surveyed for the Central Bank study, which also found Ireland had the second highest number of firms afraid or discouraged from borrowing, while changes in terms and conditions linked with new bank credit were among the least favourable in the euro area.

In the six months to the end of July, Bank of Ireland said that it had approximately 33,000 applications for credit and approved almost 27,000 – more than 80%.

Mark Cunningham, director of Bank of Ireland business banking, said: “It is a concern for us that a significant number of SMEs still believe that banks are not lending.

“Research from the Mazars study suggests that these SMEs are forming their views from the information they receive from a wide variety of sources rather than their own personal experiences.”