Tagged: small businesses

January 12, 2023 @ 8:24 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Small business loan approval percentages at big banks “slipped again, falling from 14.6% in November to 14.5% in December, which tied with January for the lowest monthly approval rate for big banks in 2022,” according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released on… Read More

January 11, 2023 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

New Kriya (previously MarketFinance) research shows high levels of awareness of Embedded Finance among UK B2B SMEs. But with implementation intent being 3 years on average, “this means thousands of UK firms are leaving money on the table,” the report from Kriya reveals. UK SME… Read More

January 11, 2023 @ 4:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Four in five (80%) SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses) consider payments and a seamless checkout experience “as critical to growth.” New research among 200 U.S. brick-and-mortar SMBs commissioned by leading payments platform, Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE), revealed “that 69% of merchants want to reduce the time… Read More

January 11, 2023 @ 8:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

40Seas, a Fintech platform for cross-border trade financing, has raised $111 million to deliver a much more efficient and cost-effective financing framework for SMEs involved in global commerce. The company’s $11 million seed funding round, “led by Team8 with participation from ZIM Integrated Shipping Services… Read More

January 3, 2023 @ 12:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies are the backbone of the global economy, according to an update from the World Economic Forum (WEF). They create “close to 70% of jobs and GDP worldwide.” But, amid warnings of a global recession, research from the… Read More

January 3, 2023 @ 8:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

When conducting business overseas, companies of all sizes can be hampered by slow payment times, high costs and limited transfer options, according to an update from Paysend. However, these barriers are “particularly cumbersome for SMEs, which have fewer resources in terms of workforce and cash… Read More

December 26, 2022 @ 5:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cowbell, the provider of cyber insurance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), recently announced the launch of its Cybersecurity Advisory Board (CSAB). Expertise on the CSAB “includes CISOs, cybersecurity visionaries, former military officers, writers, public speakers, and attorneys.” The creation of the board accelerates Cowbell’s… Read More

December 26, 2022 @ 8:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Cloudworkz, a B2B, subscription based platform that provides SMEs with in demand human capital, digital marketing and business services, has raised 150% (£827,280.64) of its £550,000 target via Crowdcube (at the time of writing) from 138 investors with 16 days left in the firm’s crowdfunding… Read More

December 24, 2022 @ 9:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The latest funding comes from the bank’s largest investor and will be “used to increase loan book and develop new products for SMEs.” Digital SME lender and savings provider Recognise Bank has conditionally “raised a further £25 million in investment from its group’s largest shareholder.”… Read More

December 21, 2022 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global tax software provider Sovos announced that it will be continuously monitoring changes to “provide ongoing updates and advice to help small- and medium-sized businesses navigate the complexities brought on by the combination of IRS rule changes, an increase in budget allocations for tax enforcement… Read More

December 21, 2022 @ 8:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

LHV UK announced that it will start issuing Small Medium Enterprise (SME) loans as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved the company’s Annex I financial institution registration, “a prerequisite to issuing loans in the United Kingdom under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of… Read More

December 18, 2022 @ 6:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

With embedded finance set to become a “quintessential” component of many industries, smaller businesses and individuals can now “have greater access to financial services than ever before owing to banking-as-a-service (BaaS),” according to an update from GlobalData. With the right partners and systems in place,… Read More

December 12, 2022 @ 3:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Vestwell, the small business retirement plan provider and individual savings platform, announced significant upgrades “to its proprietary recordkeeping platform designed for the small plan market.” Through a series of strategic enhancements, Vestwell’s technology “solves some of the most complex challenges faced in the history of… Read More

December 10, 2022 @ 6:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Veem, an accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP) network for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), announced a partnership with Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications and marketplaces, “to offer business payments via a native integration with Finastra’s Fusion Digital Banking Platform.”… Read More

December 2, 2022 @ 10:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Decimal, a Fintech company offering bookkeeping and accounting operations for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs),  announced it “has acquired the cloud-based bookkeeping service and certain other assets of KPMG Spark, owned by Big Four tax, accounting and advisory firm KPMG LLP.” Financial terms “were not… Read More

November 29, 2022 @ 8:20 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The wave of embedded finance options is starting to move this “proverbial ship” forward, as options available at MarketFinance through their pay later financing for small businesses mean that finally, sole traders can “get instant access to credit at the point of sale when procuring… Read More

November 24, 2022 @ 2:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

iwoca, one of Europe’s largest small business lenders, is announcing the integration of its B2B payment solution iwocaPay with ecommerce software WooCommerce. WooCommerce “holds 37% market share of ecommerce software platforms worldwide.” iwocaPay’s new extension will “provide tens of thousands of ecommerce businesses with the… Read More

November 24, 2022 @ 1:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Novo, an all-digital neobank for US-based small businesses, has reportedly topped up its Series B round with a $35 million investment coming from GGV Capital. The additional funding brings Novo’s Series B investment round to $125 million, and total equity funding to over $170 million…. Read More

November 23, 2022 @ 8:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Hydr, which creates software to enable invoice finance at scale for SMEs, optimizing cash flow, fueling growth, has secured 95% (£332,826) of its £350,001 target via Seedrs with 29 days left in the firm’s crowdfunding campaign (with 31 investors so far making contributions to the… Read More

November 16, 2022 @ 12:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

American Express (NYSE: AXP) announced that it has partnered with TikTok “to launch the #ShopSmall Accelerator, a new program to help small business owners reach a new generation of shoppers on Small Business Saturday, which is on November 26, 2022, and runs throughout the holiday… Read More