"We firmly believe there is a middle ground for SME banking – one that isn’t the faceless retail banks; nor the purely app-based solutions."
The funds will accelerate and broaden Cynergy Bank’s programme to enhance its SME proposition and grow the number of businesses it can support.
If the funding application is successful, Cynergy Bank will expand its products and services available to SMEs.
Cynergy Bank says it will invest £2 of its own funds for every £1 it receives from Capability and Innovation Fund to the end of 2022 to build a sustainable, long-term SME proposition.
Nick Fahy, CEO of Cynergy Bank, said: “Scale-up SMEs are underserved by UK banks. They don’t receive the right mix of products and relationships to overcome barriers to growth. They fall between the cracks of the traditional banking models, too complex for the faceless retail division – too small for the mid-corporate relationship model; and they cannot have a meaningful relationship with digital banks which are app-based and serve the micro and smaller business community.
“We will offer the face-to-face relationship that is so valued by scale-ups, coupled with market leading digital technology that will free up their time by automating more standard banking services.
“This gap in the banking market could be exposed in the post-Covid-19 reinvigoration of the economy. Ambitious scale-up enterprises will be vital for growth and job creation and we want to support them, removing the barriers that can dampen their ambition.
“We hope the BCR will support this vital part of the economy at this crucial time, by helping Cynergy Bank to deliver the digital relationship bank that scale-up businesses need. Focussing the grants on banks whose plans are to grow their market share of micro and small businesses won’t help the recovery.
“We firmly believe there is a middle ground for SME banking – one that isn’t the faceless retail banks; nor the purely app-based solutions. Technology should not replace human relationships. Rather, investment in technology should be used to deliver exceptional service via human beings.”
