The Bank of England’s latest FLS data revealed that net lending to SMEs fell by £0.1bn in Q3 2014 while lending to all businesses decreased by £2.4bn.
Samir Desai, chief executive of Funding Circle, said: “Funding for Lending is still not helping enough small businesses access finance.
“Net lending is flat and 86% of small businesses that use the Funding Circle marketplace believe the scheme is not working for them.
“Whilst Funding for Lending figures continue to remain muted, marketplace lending is growing exponentially.”
Small businesses want more, as 95% want more collaboration between the government and financial services while 97% think the government should do more to ensure they can easily access finance.
More than half (55%) of small businesses back George Osborne’s proposal to require banks to refer all small and medium-sized businesses to alternative finance providers
Desai added: “Based on today's figures, Funding Circle is now the 4th largest net new lender to businesses in the UK and has now helped more than 6,000 businesses access the finance they need to grow.
“We are witnessing a changing of the guard in the business lending space.
“More banks are not the answer. Online marketplaces add diversity to an old system badly in need of modernisation are and provide a better service to small businesses."
