SME credit: access is still easy, but the cost of credit is worrying more and more firms
Banque de France, 20 October 2026: 96% of SMEs obtained all or nearly all of their investment loan, but 41% report a rise in the cost of credit in the third quarter.
- On 20 October 2026, the Banque de France published its third-quarter survey on how easily companies get credit.
- 96% of SMEs obtained all or at least 75% of the investment loan they asked for, but 41% see credit costs rising (+16 points).
- For an agency, access to credit is not the issue; the cost, and so cash flow, is a reason to track payments more closely.
In its quarterly survey published on 20 October 2026, the Banque de France reports that 19% of SMEs (10 to 249 employees) asked for a new investment loan in the third quarter, against 26% of mid-sized firms. On the answer side, 96% of SMEs and 99% of mid-sized firms obtained all or at least three quarters of the amount requested.
The signal worth keeping lies elsewhere: the share of SMEs reporting a higher cost of credit reaches 41% (+16 points versus the second quarter), and 58% for mid-sized firms (+31 points). Requests for cash-flow credit remain rare (7%), and the share of SMEs obtaining all or at least 75% of that credit slips from 83% to 81%.
For AppH
- When credit costs more, every week of an unpaid invoice weighs more. An assistant that prepares reminders and tracks due dates saves the team time without touching anything at the bank.
- A person at the agency reads and approves each reminder before it goes out: the tool prepares, the human decides.
Against / the honest limit
- This survey measures the perception of companies that decide on their own credit; it says nothing about the situation of any one domiciliation agency.
- An assistant does not fix a cash-flow problem: it helps follow payments, but it replaces neither financial advice nor the relationship with the bank.
Credit can still be found, but it costs more. For a small business the first lever is often internal: knowing who owes what, and chasing on time, with a person who stays in control.
Reviewed by a human at AppH