Banks welcome female entrepreneurs

Banks welcome female entrepreneurs

Female business owners are charged the same as male counterparts for bank loans, are better at repayment and viewed as lower risk, new research reveals.  ‘Myths and Realities of Womens’ Access to Finance’, commissioned by the Women’s Enterprise Task Force (WETF), found that women succeed at or above the rates of men when seeking bank finance. 

They are also less likely than men to have been rejected due to poor business planning, and are less likely to have been unable to make a repayment on loans.  This new evidence is in stark contrast to beliefs that access to finance is a key barrier to female entrepreneurs, and reinforces perceptions of women business owners as better risk managers. 

However, women are less likely than men to have the knowledge and confidence to access venture capital and equity funding, which can be productive sources of growth finance.  WETF continues to call for measures to improve access to diverse sources of finance for start-up and growth, to maximise the role female entrepreneurs can play in the recovery and long term growth of the economy. 

Read the report in full at http://www.womensenterprisetaskforce.co.uk/myths_and_realities.html