SMEs may have been suffering a credit squeeze ever since the financial crisis hit, but things could be looking up. New research suggests that the lending industry is set to grow over the next two years as alternative finance takes off.
A survey by outsourcing services provider Nostrum found that 57% of lending professionals believe the industry will expand over the next 24 months and 84% predict that it will remain stable.
But it seems that growth will come from unconventional providers of finance, rather than traditional sources such as banks. Of those surveyed, 59% believe that alternative financing, such as peer-to-peer lending, guarantor loans and logbooks, will drive growth in the next two years.
In total, 72% of service providers cited peer-to-peer lending as a growth opportunity, compared with 62% of brokers and 58% of lenders.
Nostrum CEO Richard Carter said: “The industry shows signs of optimism, anticipating growth over the next two years as alternative solutions, such as peer-to-peer lending, come to the fore and offer a viable alternative to traditional sources of credit.”
Sally Percy is editor of The Treasurer