Traditional finance is letting SMEs down Research from finance and payment solutions provider Sonovate reveals that 38% of SME business owners think banks fail to understand their needs, while 41% believe banks' lending policies have not kept pace with their demands. "It is evident that business owners across the country are struggling to access finance through traditional means," said Sonovate co-founder and co-chief executive Richard Prime. However, despite the UK being a hive of fintech firms and alternative lenders, only 5% of small firms secured a loan or accessed invoice finance from one in the past 12 months.