CEO June Butler explains the role of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) in ensuring that Irish SMEs, farmers and fishers have access to finance on competitive terms.
June Butler, you are the CEO of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland. Can you tell us why the SBCI is important for Irish businesses?
Since we started our lending activity in March 2015, we have ensured that Irish SMEs, farmers and fishers can access funding at competitive interest rates and under favourable terms. By supporting and helping to develop an effective credit market for SME finance, we ensure that it is easier for Irish businesses to get the finance they need to prosper and build economic activity in Ireland.
What are the main advantages for a business of sourcing funding supported by the SBCI?
As a state-owned promotional institution, we provide wholesale finance to SMEs through our on-lending partners, a broad network that includes banks, non-bank finance providers and credit unions, ensuring that the benefit of our support is delivered to Irish SMEs through multiple channels. Our funding products are designed to fill gaps in the finance market. Loans supported by the SBCI will generally be at a reduced interest rate, will have reduced security requirements and will be of a longer term than is otherwise typically available in the market.
More than 50,000 Irish SMEs from across different economic sectors have already availed of SBCI-funded or guaranteed products. We have provided a combination of low-cost liquidity and risk-sharing guarantees on loans to Irish SMEs totalling over €3.2 billion.
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How is the SBCI supporting businesses impacted by Brexit or COVID-19?
We are conscious that the Brexit situation still has some uncertainty associated with it and that the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet fully played out. The SBCI Brexit Impact Loan Scheme and the COVID-19 Loan Scheme both offer low-cost lending of up to €1.5 million per applicant over a 6-year period. In addition, as the SBCI provides an 80% guarantee on these loans to the participating on-lenders, the collateral requirements are reduced, with loans of up to €500,000 being unsecured. The Brexit Impact Loan Scheme and the COVID-19 Loan Scheme will be available until the end of December 2022 or until fully subscribed.
Irish businesses are now struggling with the increase of energy costs. How can the SBCI support them?
SBCI is supporting SMEs by developing products that can help them become more energy-efficient and will contribute to them becoming more innovative and sustainable in the long-term. In July we launched the Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (EELS), a new 10-year loan guarantee scheme focused on improving businesses’ sustainability and increasing investments in energy efficiency measures, including heat pumps, solar panels, LED lightning and other energy-saving technology.
This Scheme is designed to help Irish SMEs, farmers and fishers reduce their energy costs and transition to more sustainable business models. Borrowers can benefit from reduced interest rates, as low as 4%, and finance amounts ranging from €10,000 to €150,000 over terms of up to 10 years. The Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme is currently available through AIB, Bank of Ireland and Capitalflow, with additional on-lenders to follow in the coming weeks.
How can businesses find out more about the SBCI and your funding supports?
We encourage them to actively engage with us through our website (www.sbci.gov.ie), social media channels (@SBCIreland), email (info@sbci.gov.ie) or come and talk to us at one of the events and webinars which we regularly attend, as listed on our website.
