| Banks' poor service an anchor on small-business growth: CFIB
Poor service from banks is stunting the growth of small Atlantic Canadian companies, according to a new national report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Banking Matters concludes that the five major banks are short-changing business overall. But CFIB's Atlantic vice-president Leanne Hachey says the problem is particularly acute in this region because there are fewer options here.
The report looked at nine factors, including service charges, willingness to lend and treatment by account managers. Nationally, credit unions, HSBC and ATB Financial (Alberta Treasury Branches) continue to receive the highest marks from the small business clients, but all three dropped in satisfaction rankings since 2003.
However, credit unions are the only ones of the three to have a strong customer base with small and medium-sized businesses in Atlantic Canada.
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: While Small Businesses are Particularly Profitable, Banks Struggle to Satisfy These ...
Banks struggle to satisfy small business customers, as these customers tend to be more difficult to please compared with the average retail banking customer, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Small Business Banking Study(SM) released today. .
Top bank groups' subprime hit limited
Profits at Japan's three major banking groups fell in the six months to September as they suffered losses linked to U.S. subprime mortgage loan woes, according to their business results, the last of which was announced Wednesday. Although the losses may seem small compared with the hit U.S. financial institutions have incurred, the subprime loan woes are steadily eroding the profits of Japanese banks. .
Huntington, KeyBank add more SBA loans to portfolio
The credit crunch has dominated the financial world in the past six months, but you couldn't tell loans were tough to come by if you asked Huntington National Bank. A boatload of small-business owners turned to Huntington in the past year when it came time to get a loan. Huntington's U.S. Small Business Administration loans in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 surged 142 percent, to 109 loans in the five-county local area of Ohio, according to SBA figures. That was the biggest rise in a fairly weak year for SBA loans in Southwest Ohio. Overall SBA lending activity was down locally in the past year. The number of loans fell 5 percent to 625, but the dollar amount actually rose 6 percent. Banks are making fewer, but bigger, loans locally. .
PM: Provide loans for agricultural projects
SETIU: Include agriculture when extending loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, the prime minister told banks yesterday. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said like manufacturing, agriculture was also an enterprise.
"Loans could be given out to group farming schemes or individuals.
"The land must be sizeable to ensure the venture is viable. The SME Bank should look into this."
Abdullah said with the government promoting agriculture as a business and by providing channels for landowners to secure loans for farming, the problem of idle land could be overcome.
He spoke after visiting the fertigation project under the Sutratani scheme in Telaga Papan.
The project is a joint venture between the State Economic Development Corporation subsidiary, Terengganu Agrotek Development Corporation and JPB Greentech Sdn Bhd, which uses a hi-tech farming method from Holland.
Local lenders' business loans going bad
Bad loan writeoffs are surging at Chicago banks, a sign that housing market troubles are spreading to small and mid-sized businesses. The area's second- and third-largest banks LaSalle Bank N.A. (now owned by Bank of America Corp.) and Harris N.A. wrote off business loans through Sept. 30 at more than twice the rate of last year, according to financial statements. As a group, the 15 largest local banks that disclose Chicago-specific data wrote off $84.3 million in business loans, about double the figure for the first three quarters of 2006. Although loans to commercial real estate developers took a turn for the worse early this year, lending to other businesses has been seen as safe. The writeoffs haven't reached levels that dent banks' earnings, but many bankers expect credit quality to further deteriorate this year and well into 2008 as the economy continues to soften.
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