Westpac has launched a Live Online Lending Application (Lola) to help small to medium sized enterprises apply for loans and a MyBusiness Assist platform to help businesses plan, manage and finance their firms more easily.
The two new products are designed to help SME customers streamline financial and non-financial applications and processes and will help the bank move more of its customer service and business banking online, helping internal efficiency.
According to the bank the Lola tool should make it simpler for existing small business customers to apply for additional loan funding, as it links to local business bankers, without having to spend lots of time on application documentation.
“We work with over 650,000 Australian SMEs and are closely acquainted with the daily pressures that are faced by the sector,” said Julie Rynski, Westpac’s general manager of small business. “The recent Westpac Business Ideas Report found that more than half (61%) of SME owners are spending more time managing their business than they would like.”
“Lola allows customers to meet with their local Westpac business banker to access conditionally approved funds and develop their business needs.”
The MyBusiness Assist tool for Westpac customers is a product suite of cloud-based applications providing non-financial services. It offers training and help at discounted rate, covering the stages of planning a business; how to manage finance; protect a business and go online. The platform has been developed in partnership with the BCSG consultancy.
“At Westpac, we value our SME customers and want to enable and support their business aspirations,” concluded Rynski.