Steady cashflow vital for survival of small businesses

With small businesses making up 97% of all enterprises in New Zealand, making sure they get paid on time is essential to the well-being of our economy.
Cash flow is central to the success of any business, and it can also be a challenging headache, especially if you’re a small business owner. In Canstar Blue’s inaugural survey of small business customers, 14% told us that they struggle to get paid on time. If they’re not paid on time, that creates difficulties in paying staff, themselves and buying more stock.

The survey also reveals that half (50%) think the government could do more to support small business owners. However, they’re much more optimistic about the impact of technology, with more than one-third (35%) saying tech is offering them opportunities/customers that didn’t exist before.

Central to getting paid on time are merchant services. Canstar Blue is delighted to announce that BNZ has won its first NZ Small Business Merchant Services Award.

Canstar Blue General Manager Jose George says: “This is a great achievement for BNZ, the only bank which was rated 5-stars for overall satisfaction. It was also the only bank to score 5-stars in five out of our six drivers of satisfaction.

“As we know, small businesses operate on very tight margins, so it’s not surprising that fees and charges for merchant services are of great concern for them. Here, BNZ scored 4-stars in our survey - the only bank to do so.”

Accepting the award, Karna Luke, BNZ’s General Manager SME & Enterprise Partnerships, says: “Success for us is viewed through the actions of our customers. This award shows we’re on the right track and I want to thank all customers who took the time to nominate us.”

Customer satisfaction ratings

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