THE CREATION of a Mabs-type organisation for businesses and a commercial credit intermediary are among the many suggestions being considered by the Department of Finance as part of its bid to encourage SMEs to apply for credit.

The department received more than 100 suggestions from members of the public in response to its “Credit Suggestions Initiative” launched in May, and is investigating a number of these with a view to possible implementation.

A selection of the most frequently made and most relevant suggestions were published yesterday. These included the establishment of an advice service for businesses, similar to Mabs, the consumer money advice bureau. This would be partly staffed by out-of-work accountants and solicitors.

There were calls too for the development of a website to provide advice on preparing cash-flow projections.

Other recommendations included setting up an office that would act as a commercial credit intermediary, and would put together credit applications on behalf of businesses free of charge.

One of the problems identified by members of the public was the lack of clear guidelines from banks as to whether finance is actually available, and the criteria are being applied in the assessment of applications for credit.

According to the feedback, companies are reluctant to apply for finance in case of getting a refusal on their credit record.