"We are helping a sector that has suffered greatly in recent years while on the hunt for credit to support their growth."
The new SME credit rating, created in partnership with modefinance, will enable small firms to demonstrate their creditworthiness to potential investors and lenders.
The rating scale includes 21 classes, from A1 (highest credit rating) to C3 (lowest credit rating), plus an additional 4 classes reserved for non-compliant businesses or those which have ongoing bankruptcy procedures.
Gabriele Sabato, co-founder and CEO of Wiserfunding, said: "All too often, SMEs form the forgotten middle between corporate and consumer credit analysis, with large international banks not extending enough credit to them because they are riskier, more correlated with each other and more difficult to assess than large corporates. Yet the economic crisis and market turbulence that has characterised the last decade has verified the need for companies and financial institutions to develop adequate risk policies and faster, more reliable risk management and forecasting tools for businesses of all sizes. Our partnership with modefinance will democratise access to credit assessment methods usually reserved for large corporates, levelling the playing field for SMEs in the UK.”
Valentino Pediroda, CEO of modefinance, added: “Financial technology has opened up new opportunities for SMEs, in particular through the expansion of financing methods and access to credit. With this new bond rating initiative aimed at European SMEs, we are helping a sector that has suffered greatly in recent years while on the hunt for credit to support their growth. We are extremely proud to be working with Professor Altman and Wiserfunding and we are confident that together we will be able to give real support to smaller European companies.”
