Staff shortages at Barclays have restricted the bank’s ability to perform background checks, beyond the most basic oversight.
City A.M. reports that Barclays only have the bandwidth to execute background checks for businesses with a sole director.
For the last four months, companies with more than one director have been turned away for new business bank accounts.
As it stands, the bank does not have the capacity to process anything beyond a ‘bank mandate’; a document signaling who has the authority to manage an account.
A Barclays representative is reported to have said that the bank has “limited opening capacity for accounts for multi-director small businesses while colleagues focus on serving existing banking clients.”
“We hope to have increased capacity in the coming weeks so that we can welcome all new small business customers.”
Small business confidence in the banking sector is at a particularly low ebb, as statistics have shown the drastic drop in successful business loan applications.
SMEs have the right to question whether traditional banks have their best interests in mind and have the willingness to support small businesses in the manner in which they require.
The news serves as yet another blow to a number UK small businesses, who have recently been informed of upcoming cuts to the government’s energy bill support scheme.
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