Breaking News
Significant Rise in UK SMEs Borrowing Money Expected in 2023
The majority of UK SMEs (88%) plan to lean on business finance and credit this year according to new research carried out by solution-led fintech provider Nucleus Commercial Finance (NCF).
As the economic situation continues to challenge the outlook and stability of UK SMEs, it is revealed that only 12% of SMEs say they have no plans to borrow any money over the next 12 months – this rises to 29% when including sole traders and micro businesses. With interest rates still at record high levels, this is going to place a real financial burden on UK businesses.
The expected borrowing is not, however, solely to patch holes. The reason most commonly cited by small and medium sized businesses is to enable them to seize growth opportunities (38%). More than a third stated that they plan to borrow in order to help employees with the rising cost of living (34%). A similar number said that borrowing would be driven by a determination to use it to make the business more environmentally sustainable.
Rising costs and financial stress are still having an impact, however. A third (33%) of small and medium sized businesses expect to use business finance to cover unavoidable rising overheads, while one in five (20%) are likely to do so in order to pay off existing debt.
|
UK SMEs |
Small & Medium sized businesses |
||
| To seize growth opportunities |
31% |
To seize growth opportunities |
38% |
| To cover unavoidable rising overheads |
29% |
To help employees with the cost of living |
34% |
| To help employees with the cost of living |
21% |
To cover unavoidable rising overheads |
33% |
| To make the business more environmentally sustainable |
18% |
To make the business more environmentally sustainable |
30% |
| To pay off debt |
15% |
To pay off debt |
20% |
Companies In This Post
- Tencent Cloud Powers iyzico’s European Expansion with Secure, Scalable Payment Infrastructure Read more
- GTT Integrates Insurants AI to Power Insurance Data Intelligence Across Regulated Markets Read more
- The Paytech Magazine Issue #18 Read more
- Napier AI Targets Critical Gaps in AML with Launch of Insights AI, Tested in FCA Supercharge Sandbox Read more
- Apex Group Unveils New Research on AI Adoption Across Private Credit Read more
Napier AI Targets Critical Gaps in AML with Launch of Insights AI, Tested in FCA Supercharge Sandbox
Napier AI, a global leader in AI-powered financial crime compliance solutions, announces its latest AI innovations are available in product Insights AI, a new capability within their Transaction Monitoring solution designed to close critical gaps in anti-money laundering (AML) investigations. This follows extensive testing in the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Supercharged Sandbox.
PayQuicker Launches 1099 Solution Powered by Avalara
PayQuicker, a global payouts and financial technology company, today announced the launch of its new 1099 tax reporting solution, powered by Avalara, the agentic tax and compliance leader. The new offering helps businesses simplify and automate 1099 reporting while reducing compliance risk and administrative burden.
Loan Servicing Enters the AI Agent Era as Chaseit.ai Scales Toward 30,000 Calls a Day
Loan servicing, long one of the most manual and operationally intensive areas of financial services, is beginning to shift as AI voice agents move from pilots into live production environments.
Network International and ADCB Egypt launch Egypt’s first Transactional Fraud Solution Powered by Artificial Intelligence with FICO’s Advanced Analytics
Network International (Network) (www.Network.ae), a leading fintech company in the Middle East and Africa, and ADCB Egypt - part of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Group, one of the UAE’s foremost financial institutions - have launched FICO® Falcon® Fraud Manager.
Empower Federal Credit Union Expands Partnership with Alkami by Selecting MANTL to Power Omnichannel Growth
Alkami Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKT) (“Alkami”), a digital sales and service platform provider for financial institutions in the U.S., today announced that Empower Federal Credit Union (Empower FCU) has selected MANTL’s Onboarding & Account Opening Solution to modernize its retail and business account opening experience. By expanding its partnership with Alkami, Empower FCU is accelerating member growth and advancing its omnichannel strategy.
AI Is Not an IT Project: Trustpair Appoints First Chief AI Officer to Scale Enterprise Adoption
As most enterprises struggle to move AI past the pilot stage, Trustpair, the leading vendor fraud prevention platform for global enterprises, is making a different bet: dedicated executive leadership. Today, the company announced the appointment of co-founder Simon Elcham as Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and the formalization of its companywide AI governance model. The newly created role elevates Elcham, co-founder and former CTO, to lead a structured, cross-functional AI strategy grounded in Trustpair's core belief that technology alone cannot drive AI adoption.
Experian and OpenAI Launch the UK’s First Credit Score App Inside ChatGPT
Experian today announced the launch of the UK’s first ever credit score app within ChatGPT apps
Tencent Cloud Powers iyzico’s European Expansion with Secure, Scalable Payment Infrastructure
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, announced a collaboration with iyzico, a leading Turkish fintech company, to support iyzico’s European expansion and the launch of its first cloud-based production platform in the region. Built on Tencent Cloud’s IaaS infrastructure, the deployment reflects its growing role in supporting regulated financial institutions across Europe’s fintech ecosystem.
GTT Integrates Insurants AI to Power Insurance Data Intelligence Across Regulated Markets
With a vision to develop India-built data and AI platforms for global deployment, GTT Data Solutions Ltd (“GTT”), a BSE-listed global data engineering and AI platform company, has integrated Insurants AI Limited, a specialist in insurance data intelligence, analytics, and harmonisation that focuses on enabling intelligent data management, automation, and decision intelligence for enterprises across insurance, banking, and other highly regulated sectors. This move strengthens GTT’s insurance technology capabilities across the U.S., UK, Europe, India, and APAC, positioning the company as a provider of next-generation insurance data and intelligence solutions.
The Paytech Magazine Issue #18
Share this post: Share on LinkedIn Share on X (Twitter) Share on Facebook Share on […]
Napier AI Targets Critical Gaps in AML with Launch of Insights AI, Tested in FCA Supercharge Sandbox
Napier AI, a global leader in AI-powered financial crime compliance solutions, announces its latest AI innovations are available in product Insights AI, a new capability within their Transaction Monitoring solution designed to close critical gaps in anti-money laundering (AML) investigations. This follows extensive testing in the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Supercharged Sandbox.
Apex Group Unveils New Research on AI Adoption Across Private Credit
Apex Group Ltd. (“Apex Group”), a global financial services provider with over $3.5 trillion in assets serviced, has published AI-powered private credit, a new research report examining how artificial intelligence is being adopted across private credit operations globally, and where the industry’s most significant opportunities and challenges lie.
PayQuicker Launches 1099 Solution Powered by Avalara
PayQuicker, a global payouts and financial technology company, today announced the launch of its new 1099 tax reporting solution, powered by Avalara, the agentic tax and compliance leader. The new offering helps businesses simplify and automate 1099 reporting while reducing compliance risk and administrative burden.
Loan Servicing Enters the AI Agent Era as Chaseit.ai Scales Toward 30,000 Calls a Day
Loan servicing, long one of the most manual and operationally intensive areas of financial services, is beginning to shift as AI voice agents move from pilots into live production environments.