Friday, November 04, 2011 9:31:00 AM
RBS has announced it plan to increase small business lending by 15% by lowering interest rates, cutting upfront fees, and ending early repayment penalties.
This initiative is said to be "part of a drive to get behind the economic recovery" and the bank expects that a company borrowing an average small business loan of £75,000 would save as much as 60% on the cost of the loan over 3 years.
This move came ahead of RBS's latest results - pre-tax profits of £2bn in the 3 months to 30 September 2011, compared to a loss of £1.6bn in the same period one year prior.
The MD of RBS Business Banking in Scotland said "A circuit breaker is needed to restore confidence for small businesses, that's what RBS is hoping to provide. We've set an ambitious target of 15% in the next 3 months, and we're backing it up with our best ever offer to small firms."