NAB welcomes the Commonwealth Government’s announcement of an in-principle agreement between the Government and leading banks to establish an Australian Business Growth Fund that will help boost the growth of small and medium businesses in Australia.

NAB Chief Customer Officer Business and Private Banking Anthony Healy said, as Australia’s biggest business bank, NAB was pleased to support a new way for Australian small and medium businesses to access long-term equity capital.

“The Australian Business Growth Fund will support economic growth and employment by giving small and medium businesses greater access to long-term equity capital that will help them grow, invest in new technology and create more jobs,” Mr Healy said.

“We also take great confidence in the success of the growth funds in the UK and Canada and thank the UK Business Growth Fund in particular for their support and insights provided to NAB and the other the participating banks over the past 12 months”.

“As part of NAB’s support for the Business Growth Fund, NAB has led and chaired the industry working group which has seen this opportunity progress”.

Participating in the Australian Business Growth Fund is another way that NAB is supporting our customers and Australian small businesses.

In its recent 2019 full year results, NAB reported that it finances approximately 450,000 small business customers and, despite economic challenges, NAB’s small and medium business franchise has continued to perform strongly, with business lending growing well above peers.

In addition to NAB’s support of the Australian Business Growth fund, NAB has:

• simplified small business contracts for more than 130,000 business customers, making them easier to read and more transparent;
• helped businesses grow by providing quick and simple online unsecured loans through QuickBiz, accounting for 47 per cent of new small business lending;
• allocated $2 billion of funding over five years to help emerging technology companies build and grow their businesses;
• introduced 163 new roles in its Business and Private Bank as part of an ongoing commitment to backing customers in growth corridors across Australia; and
• opened four new Customer Connect Centres in Toowoomba, Tamworth, Bendigo and Bunbury in 2019.