Businesses asked to share digital banking barriers

Businesses in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are being asked to share their experiences of digital banking amid claims they are being left behind by services available elsewhere.

Innovate Guernsey launched the Crown Dependencies Digital Banking Survey after businesses reported difficulties accessing bank accounts, payment platforms and other digital financial services.

The organisation said some online banking and payments providers available to UK companies were unavailable to island businesses, putting them at a competitive disadvantage.

Chair of Innovate Guernsey Susan Watson said the aim was to "show the combined size of the market these providers are missing".

She said access to services such as business banking, online card payments and digital finance tools had become "the basic plumbing of running a business".

"When that's harder here than elsewhere, it costs time and money, and it can push founders to set up somewhere else," Watson said.

"The survey grew out of problems raised again and again by Guernsey's innovation community."

She said digital providers such as Revolut and Stripe were not available to island businesses on the same terms as businesses elsewhere.

"In practice, that leaves a Guernsey-registered company unable to use a service that a UK competitor can open in minutes," she said.

Innovate Guernsey said it hoped evidence gathered from the survey would help persuade providers to expand services to the Crown Dependencies.

Watson said: "Clear, quantified evidence from all three islands has a much better chance of getting the Crown Dependencies onto providers' development roadmaps.

"Together we can show the combined size of the market these providers are missing, and the real impact on businesses trying to start, operate and grow here."

The survey asks businesses and advisers to identify barriers they have encountered when accessing banking, payment and financial services and explain the impact on their operations.

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