On 28 January, AltriaCorpo presented the results of the First Alternative Finance and Fintech Business Barometer, carried out jointly with the Institute of Financial Studies (IEF).
For this Barometer, a total of 120 in-depth interviews were conducted with companies, financial institutions and alternative finance providers, who were asked about their experience and perception of the availability of credit, the outlook for 2021 and the degree of knowledge and use of alternative finance and fintech instruments.
Here is the link to the video of the presentation, and this is a summary of the main results of the Barometer:
- All banks will tighten their lending policy and most plan to raise interest rates.
- Alternative finance providers are divided on whether or not to tighten lending policies, and have no plans to increase interest rates.
- The lack of awareness of alternative finance among companies is still 33%, and when it comes to fintech (a subgroup of alternative finance that offers online platforms and greater agility) this lack of awareness rises to 59%.
- 70% of companies will actively seek financing during 2021, but 84% of them are aware that it will cost them much more than the previous year due to the shrink of bank credit.
- The lack of awareness of alternative financing together with the high availability of bank credit in recent years are the main reasons that financial agents find to explain why the growth targets for alternative financing set by the European Union and the Capital Markets Union have not been met.