FORUM OF PRIVATE BUSINESS AND PBF SOLUTIONS RESPOND TO CMA RETAIL BANKING REPORT WITH THE LAUNCH OF A UNIQUE BANKING COMPARISON PORTAL
Financial technology provider PBF Solutions is partnering with the Forum of Private Business (The Forum) to give the Forum’s 12,000 member businesses direct access to YourBusinessMoney, the UK’s first comparison portal to use a company’s unique banking activity profile to identify the best-value accounts for its specific needs.
Forum members will be able to use the innovative YourBusinessMoney portal to access real-time, continually updated price comparisons for business savings and current accounts. Businesses simply key in estimates of their incoming and outgoing transactions, such as the number of cheques paid and received, cash and direct debits, for a one- or three-year period. YourBusinessMoney ranks the current accounts available by costs and charges to the account holder, and by interest rates.
The BBA’s latest figures for high-street banking showed that the UK’s 5.4 million SMEs had £162.1bn in current and deposit accounts (an average of £28,000 per business) at the end of Q1 2016, 6% higher than in 2015. It’s estimated that firms pay on average over £2,500 a year in fees and charges. YourBusinessMoney lets companies compare their exact banking costs and interest rates, to help them choose banking services to suit them.
As reported by the government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report, over 90% of SMEs get business loans from the bank where they hold their current account, and the prices and availability of SME banking products are not transparent. The recommendations set out today by the CMA in their final report propose building a strong package of measures to deliver better banking services to SMEs, making it easier for SMEs to shop around and open a new current account. YourBusinessMoney will help businesses make decisions that suit their exact business needs.
Ian Cass, Managing Director of the Forum of Private Business, said: “The recommendations in today’s CMA report into banking and, in particular, the call for more transparency in business banking charges, which has long been called for by the Forum, are welcomed. In line with the recommendations, to help Forum members choose the accounts and banking services that best suit their needs, the Forum is pleased to launch the YourBusinessMoney partnership with PBF. With the current uncertainties over interest rates, and banks warning business customers that they may be charged more for banking, having a clear and straightforward way for businesses to review which banking services offer best value is important. YourBusinessMoney does just that and we will be encouraging our members to review what savings are available to them as they look to make their cash work harder.”
Richard Owen, chief marketing officer at PBF Solutions said: “The best business deposit accounts can pay up to 20 times as much interest as the worst, so this really is an area that can have a significant impact on a firm’s cash flow and financial outlook. By partnering with the Forum, we’re making it easier for businesses to access the information they need to make informed decisions when organising their business banking.”
YourBusinessMoney is available to Forum members at https://www.fpb.org/ and also at www.yourbusinessmoney.co.uk.
About PBF Solutions
PBF Solutions specialises in providing technology and marketing services to banks and financial institutions in the UK and overseas. PBF helps new-entrant financial organisations and challenger banks enter the UK market, using its specialised online banking services platform to deliver the transactional consumer front-end. This integrates with organizations’ back-office systems to deliver an online presence that is tailored to the UK market’s requirements. The company was founded 3 years ago and in 2015 alone secured over £1.25bn deposits for its clients, which include State Bank of India, Axis Bank, AgriBank and Jordan International Bank. PBF supports its technology platform with a range of digital and offline marketing services to drive customer acquisition and deposits, and help with distribution via its comparison site and affiliate partners. www.pbfsolutions.co.uk