41% of businesses planning to scrap banking provider

Four in 10 businesses in the UK are planning to change their banking provider due to slow support that has been offered during the COVID-19 pandemic, research from Encompass Corporation has revealed.

Encompass, the Know Your Customer (KYC) RegTech software provider, found that 41% of companies were looking to make a switch due to poor services during the crisis.
 
The data was obtained through a survey of 200 business decision makers in large and medium sized companies and conducted by independent polling company, Censuswide. It also revealed that 42% of firms had admitted to waiting over two weeks for a business loan application from their current banking provider. Another 46% had noticed significant delays in their bank’s onboarding process since the start of lockdown. 
 
Almost half (49%) of business decision makers also revealed that their bank has yet to directly offer financial support during the coronavirus crisis, while 40% agreed that their bank’s online digital services and support around COVID-19 had been poor. Encompass’ research also indicated that 45% of companies are planning to make redundancies due to a lack of revenue in the coming months. 

Encompass CEO, Wayne Johnson, commented: “The COVID-19 crisis has had a big impact on all sectors of British industry, especially financial services. In fact, many banks are being forced to run a skeleton crew of remote workers, and a number are still operating outdated legacy IT systems, which are unable to cope with the influx in demand for banking services.
 
“This move from on-premises to remote working has underlined the value of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. Standard, out of the box solutions can be up and running in a matter of days and be easily accessed remotely, via computers or mobile devices, without having to contend with firewall issues – something that has posed a significant challenge to many organisations.

“These factors could make all the difference when migrating employees to our ‘new normal’ and ensuring they have the data and systems they need to work effectively at their fingertips.”

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?

The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.


Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?



In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.

The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.

In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.