

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the central pillar of the Swiss economy. According to the Federal Statistical Office (2017), more than 576,000 SMEs are active in Switzerland, representing 99.7 percent of all companies and responsible for 68 percent of all jobs in Switzerland. Due to its high economic importance, the credit market in this segment is also very significant. For example, SME loans amounting to CHF 295 billion are outstanding in Switzerland. In contrast to other European countries, the credit supply in Switzerland is generally rated as good.
There are various financial instruments available to SMEs. We compared the four best-known instruments in terms of the following criteria. These are the costs associated with the financing, the running times, the rapid availability of the desired funds and the effort that the SME need to provide everything.
Factoring: Short-term pre-financing through the sale of existing debtors. The receivables are sold at a discount on the invoice amount. This sale optimizes the short-term liquidity of the company by shortening the payment deadlines.
Current account credit: Short-term credit limit on the bank's business account. These limits are agreed in advance with the bank and can be used flexibly if required
Bank Loan: Classic long-term corporate loan (over 12 months) with a bank that assesses and grants the bank as part of its capital and lending tasks. The refinancing takes place basically via the deposits of bank customers.
Crowdlending: Long-term corporate lending mediated online via a Crowdlending platform, which does not take the loans on its own books, but rather has it financed by a large number of investors.
The evaluation of the criteria is deliberately descriptive and brief. Depending on the design of the effective offer, these may also differ slightly from the assessment.
Factoring |
Current account |
Bank loan |
Crowdlending |
|
Cost |
high |
high |
low-moderate |
low-moderate |
Duration |
short term |
short-medium term |
long term |
long term |
Availability |
fast |
Very fast |
decelerating |
fast |
Effort |
low |
moderat |
high |
low |
For short-term financings with a fluctuating financial need, so the factoring or the current account solution offers. For longer-term (investment) projects, however, bank loans and crowd-lending loans are better suited due to maturity congruence. If your company needs to cover long-term loan needs, financing through a crowd lending platform is often the most attractive way to finance it.
Why a SME loan over Crowdlending (for example Crowd4Cash)?
• Credit decision within 48h
• Attractive conditions through highly automated and efficient processes
• Loans already from CHF 5'000.-
• Less bureaucracy and administrative burden than traditional bank lending
• Application can be registered 100% online
Further information can be found in our FAQ. We are always at your disposal for further information here.