According to a study by the neobank, Qonto, the relationship of Spanish startups with their banking entities stands out for a complete ignorance of commission spending, fewer and fewer visits to the physical office and restricted access by employees to the company’s checking accounts.
The parameter in which national startups show more doubts and ignorance has to do with the expense derived from banking services. Asked about the amount they pay their banks in commissions, 7 out of 10 startups admit ignore it. Of these, 37% say they have no idea of the approximate figure and 34% say they have not calculated it exactly.
In relation to how much this expense represents, almost four out of 10 are allocating more than 100 euros to that concept, and it is surprising that, despite often being companies in very early stages and still not generating cash, one in 10 exceeds 500 euros. 40% of Spanish technology companies calculate that their annual expenses in commissions do not exceed 50 euros, and 14.5% do not pay commissions: a figure that highlights how more and more organizations are looking for entities that provide them with certainty about how much it’s going to cost them their service at the end of the year.
For Carles Marcos, Qonto’s country manager: “This lack of knowledge about commissions is especially worrying in companies with the profile of startups, in which a deviation of the budget or uncontrolled expenses can hinder their development. More and more startups value the neobanks model that opt for 100% transparent fixed fees, providing entrepreneurs with peace of mind and certainty”.
In this context, the percentage of Spanish startups that are considering changing banks is approximately 33%. Of that percentage, slightly more than 14% would do so by searching for an entity that can offer them a service more adjusted to their needs, and a similar proportion would make the change because they are dissatisfied with the service of their current bank.
More digitization and immediacy
In general, startups in Spain are convinced of the need to have a good banking service to advance in the development of their businesses. This is confirmed by 8 out of 10 startups, who consider this aspect important or very important. Overand the implementation of neobanks In the entrepreneurial network in Spain, 24% of startups claim to want to work with an entity of this type, and 13% already work with them.
The Qonto study also reveals that startups and entrepreneurs are making less and less use of their bank branches. 17% say they do not visit these offices for a whole year, and only 9% do it several times a week. Among the remaining startups, there are more who admit to setting foot in their office several times a year (35%) than monthly (20%).
“More and more company managers feel comfortable carrying out all kinds of financial transactions remotely and immediately, especially in an environment such as startups that is more suited to technology. The pandemic has accelerated this trend, so we are not surprised by this change in habits that will surely increase ”, Marcos points out.
In relation to the number of accounts through which they carry out their day-to-day banking operations, the majority of startups in Spain (80%) claims to have one or two accounts, and only two out of 10 admit to having 3 or more. Asked about how many people in the organization have access to these accounts, 43% point out that only two people can operate in them, and only in two out of every 10 three or more people do so. This implies, in general, a banking management very focused on the CEO and CFO, which is a bottleneck for many organizations.
Finally, the most important benefits when choosing a bank, for SMEs are the simplicity when carrying out the procedures (72%), followed by the absence of commissions (57%), security (55%) and transparency (45%). On the other hand, among all these factors, it is somewhat less relevant that that bank gives them access to new lines of credit (32%).
