Cashplus Bank, the Fintech bank for UK-based small businesses, recently revealed that it has become the first UK bank to introduce a Mastercard-powered Digital Health Check tool for SMEs.
The Digital Health Check, which will reportedly be available to the public for free, offers a multi-response questionnaire meant to assess their ability to avail opportunities in business world that is increasingly dominated by all-digital processes.
The announcement has been made after the government’s push to enlist banking institutions to push businesses to sign up for its Help to Grow scheme.
As mentioned in the update, the scheme was meant to enhance skills amongst SME leaders but has received relatively limited take-up.
Upon completion, the Digital Health Check offers a virtual readiness rating which is determined from a set of questions that aim to cover the present state of the answering business.
Businesses are evaluated across key areas and get assigned a digital score to each area and an overall readiness rating.
The tool then recommends solutions that are relevant to individual business requirements, which are identified via the health check.
Cashplus Bank is reportedly the first UK virtual bank to provide this service which will be available to any SME through the bank’s official website.
Compared to the UK government’s scheme which requires a minimum of five workers to apply, the Digital Health Check is currently open to any company, regardless of their size.
This launch comes after customer research by Cashplus finding that small businesses spend an average of 22 hours per month on financial administrative tasks.
Tracking of income and expenditure, filing expenses and account reconciliation have been found to be the most time-consuming activities.
As noted in the update, the effective adoption and implementation of digital tools could speed up these processes.
Rich Wagner, CEO and founder, Cashplus Bank said:
“We know that small businesses, particularly start ups and young companies, have a lot to deal with and often face a steep learning curve in many areas of running a business. Today, digital readiness is one of the most important areas for small businesses to get to grips with if they want to succeed.”
Wagner added:
“Our new Mastercard Digital Health Check provides our customers with a free, holistic review that gives them an understanding of where they are. The tool provides practical, concrete suggestions to help businesses get up to speed and is a great fit with Cashplus Bank’s simple approach to breaking down barriers for UK SMEs.”
The Mastercard Digital Health Check builds on the organization’s commitment to SMEs in the UK which reportedly includes the recent launch of Strive UK – a program designed to assist the United Kingdom’s micro and small businesses with accessing the support and tools they require to thrive in the digital economy.