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How to Evaluate Sustainability Performance

Explore how ESG indicators can guide sustainable practices...
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by Credit Passport

Knowledge base

11 Key Impacts Of The Spring Budget 2024
Credit Passport 6 mins

11 Key Impacts of the Spring Budget 2024 on Your Small Business

Read the summary of some of the key announcements that may affect your business.

Mental Health At Work
Credit Passport 6 mins

Mental health at work

As a business owner, your most precious assets are your employees and it's your responsibility to look after the health and wellbeing of your workforce.

The Future Trends Of SME Finance In The UK
Credit Passport 5 mins

Navigating Tomorrow

The Future Trends of SME Finance in the UK: several trends are emerging, reshaping how SMEs access and manage their finances.

Picture Of The Current SME Landscape In The UK
Credit Passport 4 mins

A Picture of the Current SME Landscape in the UK

The recent from the Small Business Index (SBI) report for Q2 2023 issued by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) paints a concerning picture for SMEs in the UK.

6 Benefits
Credit Passport 4 mins

What are the top 6 benefits of a real-time business credit score?

Thanks to open banking, businesses can now discover their real-time credit score and access a wider range of financial services.

Credit Score Blog
Credit Passport 5 mins

Business Credit Score: What You Need to Know

Running an SME? At some point there will come a time when you will need to demonstrate your business credibility. Learn more about business credit scores.

Bringing Open Banking Powered Instant Lending To UK Small Businesses (5)
Credit Passport 4 mins

CRIF & iwoca unite to bring open banking-powered instant lending to UK SMEs

New embedded finance partnership between fintech business lender iwoca and open banking solutions provider CRIF will deliver instant decisions on business loans.

Rising Energy And Water Costs
Credit Passport 4 mins

How Businesses Can Cut Expenses and Save Money

Businesses are still under pressure, however, through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the UK Government is currently subsidising the cost of gas and electricity prices.

Secured Vs. Unsecured Loans
Credit Passport 4 mins

Secured vs. Unsecured Loans

Today businesses have a variety of different borrowing and funding options to choose from. Most of these fit into one of two categories: secured loans or unsecured loans. Discover more

Why Cyber Insurance (1)
Credit Passport 5 mins

Why cyber insurance is for businesses of all sizes

Attacks happen so often that we may be desensitised to the numbers, but the cost to individuals and businesses is staggering.

Your Essential Guide To Business Leases
Credit Passport 5 mins

Your Guide to Business Leases

Advice on how to find the best possible premises for your business.

Tackling Inflation (1)
Credit Passport 4 mins

How SMEs can better tackle inflation

While these are undeniably challenging times for many business owners, there are measures they can take to lessen the inflation’s impact.

Autumn Statement
Credit Passport 3 mins

What does last week’s Autumn Statement mean for UK SMEs?

Our blog explores how small businesses can face rising taxes, alongside rising costs, and an impending global recession head on and grow.

New Badge Blog 2022
Credit Passport 2 mins

Announcing Brand-new Credit Passport Financial Health Badge to help SMEs show trust

You asked, and we listened!

What Is Working Capital
Credit Passport 4 mins

What is Working Capital?

Learn more on how to understand and calculate your working capital ratio.

Top 10 Cities For SME Funding In The UK
Credit Passport 3 mins

Top 10 Cities for SME Funding in the UK

Keep reading to discover the latest regional hot spots for SME funding and growth in the UK.

How To Increase Revenue Through Your Ecommerce Website
Credit Passport 5 mins

How to increase revenue through your eCommerce website

Do you still experience abandoned shopping carts? Would you like to instil more trust?

CRIF Partners With 365
Credit Passport 4 mins

Penny & Credit Passport launch invoice financing service, powered by open banking

More UK SMEs will be able to get their invoices paid instantly, better manage their cashflow and improve their overall creditworthiness.

What Is The Difference Between Equity And Debt Blog (2) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Credit Passport 4 mins

What is the difference between Implicit and Explicit Cost?

An implicit cost is the use of an asset you already own. It can either refer to human capital or assets like machinery and buildings.

What Are The Pros & Cons Of Bridging Finance Blog
Credit Passport 3 mins

What are the pros & cons of Bridging Finance?

Bridging finance is a short-term loan used in the property sector that allows borrowers to immediately access finance.

What Is The Difference Between Equity And Debt Blog (1)
Credit Passport 5 mins

What is the difference between Equity and Debt?

Companies looking to raise capital can choose equity financing or debt financing, or a combination of both.

Your Business Credit Score Guide (1)
Credit Passport 6 mins

Your Business Credit Score Guide

Learn more about the key areas that determine your score, how to read your business credit report and, above all, how you can improve it over time.

Cost Of Inflation
Credit Passport 5 mins

How can SMEs beat the cost of inflation?

Recent reports have shown that SMEs are still focusing their energy to continue their growth, but these efforts are being eclipsed by concerns over inflation.

CRIF Partners With 365
Credit Passport 4 mins

365 Business Finance aligns with Credit Passport to assist SMEs

365 Business Finance has formed a new partnership with credit solutions provider CRIF Realtime, the creator of Credit Passport, as part of its mission to assist SMEs with flexible funding and services.

Understanding Business Insurance2
Credit Passport 5 mins

Understanding business insurance

Managing your costs is an important part of running a business, and can impact operating costs, profits and your creditworthiness. When it comes to purchasing insurance you may be asking yourself whether it’s necessary.

365 E Commerce
Credit Passport 6 mins

Your Guide to Ecommerce Funding

This guide will help ecommerce businesses navigate the financial world and learn more about the ins and outs of ecommerce funding, including common pitfalls.

365 Sustainability
Credit Passport 8 mins

How SMEs Can Adopt Sustainable Development Goals

This guide shows you how adopting small but effective changes can make your SME more sustainable, and take us one step closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

What Are The Top SME Funding Options In The Last 12 Months (1)
Credit Passport 6 mins

What are the top SME funding options in the last 12 months?

As a small business, access to finance is important for your continuing growth. Due to the rise of digital technologies, open banking developments and the fast growth of alternative finance, there are now a wide variety of funding options available. Let’s discover them together!

We've Hit 25,000 Customers
Credit Passport 2 mins

We have hit 25,000 customers!

We've officially hit 25,000 registrations of SMEs wanting to know their real-time Credit Passport score, powered by open banking. We are already working on new features and tools. Stay tuned!

Check List Sole Trader Vs Limted Company (1)
Credit Passport 7 mins

Your checklist to easily compare the pros and cons of becoming a sole trader or a limited company

What are the 9 top differences? How do you know which company set-up is right for you and your business?

CRIF Partners With Swoop Funding
Credit Passport 4 mins

CRIF and Swoop Funding join forces to unlock credit to SMEs and provide tailored lending products

CRIF Realtime, the creator of Credit Passport®, the Business Credit Score for SMEs, has launched a new partnership with Swoop Funding, a business funding and savings platform enabling businesses to discover the right funding solutions.

5 Ways To Manage Your Cash Flow
Credit Passport 5 mins

5 ways to manage your cash flow

How can you keep on top of your cash flow management and grow your business? Cash flow problems can cripple a small business, and the thrill of sales can lead to poorly managed cash flow.

Business Credit Score
Credit Passport 3 mins

7 tips to manage your cash flow

In order to truly take the pulse of your business, it’s essential you understand your working capital movements. check our 7 tips to manage your cash flow.

Blog Property Finance
Credit Passport 3 mins

Property finance for businesses – helping your growth plans

Whether you’re looking to buy premises for your business, or invest in a buy-to-let property, choosing the right commercial property and finance is critical to the success of your business.

Merchant Cash Advance
Credit Passport 7 mins

Guide to Merchant Cash Advance For SMEs

Merchant Cash Advance: A Fast and Flexible Funding Option for SMEs We’ve partnered with 365 Business Finance, a leading financial provider who specialise in Merchant Cash Advance (MCA).

Winning The Cash Flow Battle Penny FINAL
Penny & Credit Passport 3 mins

Free guide: “Winning the cash flow battle”

This quick read, entitled “Winning the cash flow battle: advice for SMEs”, has some great tips and simple steps for bringing your business cash flow position to a much better place.

SME News
Credit Passport 3 mins

Guide to R&D Tax Credits for Startups

For growing businesses, maximising cash flow is king, and a successful R&D tax credit claim can be a valuable funding injection.

Superscript Insurance Blog
Credit Passport 5 mins

What business insurance do I need?

Getting the right cover to protect your business may seem daunting, but it needn’t be. We’ve put together this simple guide to business insurance, with the help of our partner Superscript, to get you started.

SME Funding Help Background Blog2
Credit Passport 5 mins

The COVID-19 Recovery Loan Scheme

The Government’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) opened for applications in April. Under the scheme, different types of finance are available from a range of lenders accredited by the British Business Bank. Get the full info in our full guide here.

Crif Openbanking Expo Awards
Credit Passport 3 mins

CRIF is launch partner for Open Banking Expo Awards

As part of CRIF, we’re delighted to share the news that we are official launch partner for the Open Banking Expo Awards, which recognise the innovators, disruptors and visionaries from around the world.

Cyberblog2
Credit Passport 10 mins

The top 7 cyber risks for SMEs

Cyber risk is now very high on the threat matrix for many SMEs. More than just hacking, it involves internal and external risks, product risk, third-party risk and aggregate risk. We've put together the top 7 cyber threats for businesses.

Sme News (1)
Credit Passport® 6 mins

What the 2021 Budget means for your small business?

With the dust settling on the March 2021 Budget, we round up the key measures affecting SMEs. Many of the newly announced schemes are designed to help small businesses survive the pandemic through loans, grants and tax savings.

What Is Assest Based Lending
Credit Passport 5 mins

What is asset-based lending?

When you need equipment for your business, various forms of asset-based lending enable you to acquire it without buying it up front. If you already own equipment, you can use the value of that equipment to unlock cash to pay bills or fund expansion.

Sme News (1)
Credit Passport 5 mins

What is invoice finance?

If your business needs cash to finance expansion plans or fast working capital to pay bills, wages and other costs, invoice finance is an option. Invoice finance allows you to be paid almost instantly for the value of your outstanding debts.

Sme Organic Growth (1)
Credit Passport 5 mins

Business Plan for an SME

When lenders are considering whether or not to invest, they’ll study your company business plan in detail. To be effective, a business plan for an SME needs to contain logical sections, be concise and attractive to read, and honest about your opportunities and challenges.

SME Bounce Back Loan Explained
Credit Passport 5 mins

Bounce Back Loans - the bigger picture

Bounce Back Loans: will they live up to their name? And where do you turn if you’ve been declined or have already maxed out the £50k available?

Sme Organic Growth (1)
Credit Passport 5 Mins

Fund your innovation by claiming R&D tax relief

Credit Passport has teamed up with FI Group to make it easy for you to fund innovation by claiming R&D tax relief. We explain what spending is eligible and how to use FI Group’s ‘My R&D Claim’ portal.

CreditPassport News
Credit Passport 7 mins

Coronavirus support update Oct 22 - Chancellor Announcement

We summarise the updated Job Support Scheme as well as the new grants available for businesses in lockdown and the latest deadlines to apply for Government-based coronavirus loans.

Sme Organic Growth (1)
Credit Passport 5 Mins

A guide to peer-to-peer (P2P) business loans

P2P (peer-to-peer) platforms match SMEs needing finance with individuals, companies and other organisations with money to invest. businesses with lower credit scores have found P2P a good way of accessing short-term finance.

Credit Passport V2 Help
Credit Passport 10mins

Credit Passport version 2 is here!

Welcome to the new and improved version of Credit Passport. This article is for users of Credit Passport version 1, and will help you with any questions relating to getting set up with version 2.

SME News
Credit Passport 3 mins

The Customs Grant Schemes gear up for post-Brexit customs changes by applying for training, IT, and recruitment grants

The UK is currently in a transition period following its exit from the EU, with new customs arrangements coming into force on 1 January 2021. The Customs Grants scheme allows eligible businesses to claim for costs associated with gearing up for these new arrangements, including training, IT improvements and recruitment.

CreditPassport News
Credit Passport 3 mins

Record numbers for CRIF realtime’s Credit Passport

CRIF Realtime’s Credit Passport® Reaches Milestone in Q2 2020 with a 400% increase in SMEs Choosing it as Their Preferred Credit Solution

CP News 400Pc Growth
Credit Passport 3 mins

Record numbers for CRIF realtime’s Credit Passport

CRIF Realtime’s Credit Passport® Reaches Milestone in Q2 2020 with a 400% increase in SMEs Choosing it as Their Preferred Credit Solution

CBILS Scheme Explained B
Credit Passport 5 mins

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

The complete guide to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) scheme. How it works, who is eligible, and how to apply.

SME Bounce Back Loan Explained
Credit Passport 5 mins

Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS)

The Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) could help your small business survive the pandemic. Finance is promised within days from lenders, who only have to assess your business’s eligibility to provide loans worth up to £50,000.

Credit Passport Logo 600 600X400
Credit Passport 4 min

Credit Passport: you can trust us to keep your data secure

When you use Credit Passport, you’re placing your trust in us to look after your data securely. The technology we use, the regulators that oversee Open Banking, and our track record in credit scoring all ensure that your data is safe with us.

SME Cyber Criminal Protection
Credit Passport 6 mins

How to prevent cyber crime for SMEs

Remote working on such a large scale has left businesses open to attack by cyber hackers. Here we cover the three biggest threats and how to stop such attacks from damaging your business.

How To Win At Video Networking Part2 Zoom Dos And Donts
Credit Passport 1 min

How to win at video networking on Zoom - part 2

Business networking is a highly effective form of marketing. In part 2 of this series - we list some handy Zoom Do's and Don'ts.

How To Win At Video Networking Part1
Credit Passport 5 mins

How to win at video networking on Zoom - part 1

Business networking is a highly effective form of marketing. In this article we share the unwritten rules that will help you be a successful networker.

Coming Out Of The Crisis Sme
Alessio Balduini 4 mins

Open banking: Providing a lifeline for SMEs during the Coronavirus pandemic

A look at how UK SMEs can start to come out of the crisis, and how FinTechs can help.

How Does Open Banking Work
Credit Passport 3 mins

How does OpenBanking work?

What does it mean when we say 'Connect your bank with Open Banking?' This diagram should help...

Sme News (1)
Credit Passport 3 mins

Global Fintech CRIF Realtime Ltd Provides Open Banking Solution To Support SMEs through the pandemic and beyond

We have launched a suite of products to help the 5.9 million UK SMEs manage the unprecedented challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Available free to SMEs.

CBILS Scheme Explained B
Credit Passport 3 mins

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

How can you maximise your chances of getting hold of funding? Submitting the right financial information, along with your Credit Passport, gives you a speedier path to approval.

Covid 19 SME Help B
Credit Passport 1 mins

COVID-19 Business Resource Centre

FREE tools to help business owners. At Credit Passport it has always been our mission to help SMEs navigate the financial sector with the tools, knowledge and transparency to build and maintain a solid business. We've launched two practical tools steps to help in these unprecedented times.

New Director Insolvancy Rules B
Credit Passport 2 mins

Covid-19 changes to insolvency rules help company directors

Temporary Changes to insolvency laws will allow companies undergoing restructuring or financial rescue to carry on trading, while directors will be temporarily freed from personal liability in the event of insolvency.

SME Funding Help
Credit Passport 5 mins

SME Coronavirus Government Support Packages Finder

Use this interactive tool to get accurate information about the various support packages the UK government has put together for small businesses in this challenging time. Details updated October 2020

Scaling Your Startup
Credit Passport

SME Coronavirus Government Support Packages Finder

SME Coronavirus Government Support Packages Finder

SME Impact Survey (1)
Credit Passport 5 mins

What steps to protect my business from Coronavirus impact?

Take our short anonymous survey to help us generate a better understanding of SME impact, and to get advice on which areas of your business to focus on to militate against the challenges and risks caused by the Coronavirus outbreak.

Open Banking Help
Credit Passport 3 mins

Open Banking & your business

Open Banking is one of the biggest changes in the financial sector in decades, but it's still something only people the industry talk about. Get up to speed and find out how you can use it to take control of your business finances.

Scaling Your Startup
Credit Passport 4 mins

Three tips for scaling your start-up

You have customers, a good structure and perhaps you’ve even be able to take a dividend. Now is the time for you to build resilience into your business.

What Is A Business Credit Score
Credit Passport 3 mins

What is a business credit score?

Understand how a business credit score works and you can unlock the flow of opportunity for your business. Get insights on the tools available for SMEs to build closer relationships with lenders, investors, suppliers and clients.

Sme Organic Growth (1)
Credit Passport 4 mins

Three ideas for organic growth

Growing your business can sometimes feel like an uphill struggle. Developing your existing customers is a good place to start. We’ve put together three areas which will deliver good results.

SME Brexit Help
Credit Passport 4 mins

Get your business Brexit Ready.

As an SME, what should you be doing now? What’s the best way to protect yourself and continue to build your business when there are no specifics available?

By subscribing you agree with our privacy policy.

Don't worry - we will never share your details with any other company without your permission and you can unsubscribe at any time.