AIB pushes approval rate for SME lending to over 90%

AIB sanctioned a further 3,000 or so loans to small businesses last month, pushing its approval rate for lending to the sector to more than 90%.

Brendan O’Connor — AIB’s head of business banking — told delegates at yesterday’s Small Firms’ Association (SFA) annual luncheon in Dublin, that reports of the main banks not being open for business is a fallacy.

“Please do not be put off by what you read, or hear, in the media or by what someone else tells you. Do not be put off by the myth — and it is a myth — that if, for some reason, you do apply for a loan and are refused that, somehow, that puts a black mark against your name for all time on the bank’s blotter,” he told delegates.