Atlantic Canadian Entrepreneurs Favour Services At Scotiabank, RBC
HALIFAX – Of Canada’s major banks, two are used more by entrepreneurs in the region according to a new survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
With fully a third of market share, Scotiabank continues to be the most used bank by Atlantic Canadian small and mid-sized businesses. RBC maintained its status as the second most frequently used bank among Atlantic small businesses in 2019 with over 23 percent market share showing over 2 percent growth since 2015.
“Small businesses have specialized banking needs, so it’s important to know where they bank and the kind of service they’re getting there,” said Jordi Morgan, CFIB’s vice president of Atlantic, in a release. “That’s why CFIB has been tracking and measuring small business banking trends for decades.”
Nationally, credit unions more than tripled their market share since 1982 and have a market share of 12 percent, however, growth in the Atlantic region has remained relatively flat for the past four years. Credit unions do particularly well among smaller businesses, although their market share decreases as the number of employees in the business increases.
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) continues its decline, going from more than 20 percent market share in 1982 to less than 9 percent in 2019. Bank of Montreal (BMO) has also been on the decline since 1997 and currently holds just over 9 percent market share.
“The vast majority of businesses in Canada – 99 percent – are small,” said Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president of national affairs at CFIB. “In addition to regular business banking services, their owners usually need a variety of complementary services, from investment and retirement planning to personal banking.”
“Having access to financing is also critical to the success of small businesses, allowing them to grow, create jobs and reinvest in their communities. This is why CFIB encourages all banks to develop a strategy to focus on small business as it can be of great benefit to the bank and to the local economy.”