SMEs fail to capitalise on interest available on surplus funds

Salons could be missing out on extra funds, as research from bank Aldermore shows 29% of small businesses receive 0% interest on their surplus cash.

The survey carried out by the bank as it launches its business savings rate-checking tool also found that 18% of the 1,000 small businesses surveyed did not know the interest rate they were receiving on their surplus funds.

Some 42% of the businesses Aldermore spoke to during its research, which were all in the retail sector, said that they held their surplus funds in a business current account, rather than a savings account generating interest.

The research also found that 21% of small business did not have any surplus funds at all, and the average rate of interest received on surplus funds is 0.53%.

Simon Healy, managing director of savings at Aldermore, said, “It is clear many SMEs in the retail sector are not getting the most out of their surplus funds. While the interest rate should be the first thing you should know about your account, business regularly tell us that it really isn’t as straight forward as it should be to find out what they’re earning.”