Over recent months global economic and political uncertainty have led many lenders to reduce the availability of finance for businesses, which could spell disaster for the global economic market. Challenges such as Donald Trump and his potential impeachment, Brexit and the UK’s pending election and other global social and political issues are causing financial institutions to become more reticent about the money they lend, particularly to small businesses. This reduction in lending is despite the fact that there is a definite increase in the number of businesses looking to borrow money.

Some areas of the business finance market, such as asset finance, have actually seen growth over recent months despite these challenges. For those markets that are struggling to gain financing, growth is often slow as entrepreneurs struggle to find loans to fund their ambitions and existing businesses find themselves without the capital to expand.

In such times many companies and innovators look towards alternative forms of financing, but economic uncertainty causes issues with these also. The entire lending space is struggling, with major blows such as the collapse of payday lending giant QuickQuid causing ripples throughout the market, and as such even alternative lending options are harder for businesses to access in this climate.

There are some signs that the future will be brighter, with a new SME Charter seeing banks and other lenders pledging to support UK businesses through Brexit, but despite this many companies are still facing a struggle to obtain the finance they need. It can be tough for companies of all sizes to gain greater funding, and without money they can struggle to grow and even close down.

For those businesses struggling to find finance, technology is the key to overcoming the challenges the lending industry currently poses. Platforms like Become offer an alternative way to accesses finance by bringing lenders and businesses together so that they can negotiate loans that will suit both parties. Evidence suggests that half of small businesses do not access funding solutions, and platforms such as this could provide an alternative way for them to find, understand and access the funding they need.

Another technological solution that has the potential to support growing companies is Trade Ledger, which recently completed a funding round of its own in order to expand and attempt to reduce the time-to-cash from the business finance industry average of 90 days to a mere 4 minutes. This pioneering solution digitalises business finance and uses cutting-edge technology to bypass old-fashioned legacy banking systems and provide swift support to borrowers.

In all, with the future of the global political space uncertain, more SMEs and lenders should use funding technology to stimulate economic growth. Technology has the potential to offer businesses access to the funding they need, as well as offering lenders the chance to easily find the perfect companies to invest in, and as such it is the perfect tool for improving the global financial outlook over the coming years.

By Taylor Wilman