SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Menna has partnered with Equifax UK to add commercial credit data to its AI finance assistant for small businesses, as many UK SMEs report difficulty accessing funding.

The agreement gives Menna users direct access to Equifax credit information within the software. It is intended to show business owners how lenders may assess their applications, presenting that information in plain language and highlighting factors that could affect a borrowing decision before a formal application is made.

The partnership comes at a difficult time for the small business finance market. Figures cited by the companies show the Bank of England has identified a GBP £22 billion funding gap for SMEs, while average loan acceptance rates have fallen below 50%, down from 67% before the pandemic.

Confidence among small firms has also weakened. Public data referenced by the companies shows that only 45% of SMEs felt confident a lender would approve a finance request in the final quarter of 2025, down from a peak of 66% in 2016.

Credit visibility

The integration is intended to help business owners understand the information lenders review when deciding whether to offer credit. That includes late payments, outstanding invoices, cashflow, the age of accounts, and whether company information is up to date.

By surfacing those details earlier, the system is designed to let firms address weaknesses before seeking finance, rather than discovering credit issues only after an application has been rejected.

Small businesses account for 99.8% of the UK business population, but many still struggle to understand how credit assessments are made. The partnership is launching as the UK Government gathers evidence on the barriers smaller firms face when trying to access finance.

Menna is based in the UK and focuses on credit intelligence for smaller companies. Its founders, Dan Mines and Nick Carlton, previously worked on financial products at Admiral Group and built the business around the view that many lending systems are better suited to larger organisations than to small firms.

Equifax, which operates internationally in data and analytics, is supplying the credit data used in the service. In the UK, the group provides information and risk-related products used by lenders and other organisations in decision-making.

The aim is to make the credit review process less opaque for business owners. Instead of relying on a lender’s final verdict to reveal a problem, users can see what is shaping their profile in advance and take action.

Dan Mines, Co-founder of Menna, set out the company’s view of the problem facing smaller firms.

“Small businesses should not have to wait for a loan application to be denied before understanding their creditworthiness. By combining Menna’s Agentic AI-driven insights with trusted Equifax data, we’re helping business owners understand why a bank says no, what is affecting their credit profile, and the practical steps they can take to improve how they are seen by lenders – giving them greater confidence to borrow, plan ahead and grow,” said Mines.

Wider pressure

The launch reflects a broader debate over the availability of finance for SMEs in the UK. Lending to smaller firms has been under pressure for several years, and falling approval rates have raised concerns not only about access to capital but also about whether businesses are being discouraged from applying in the first place.

That has implications beyond individual borrowers. Smaller companies make up the overwhelming majority of the business base, so a sustained drop in borrowing confidence can affect investment, hiring, and day-to-day resilience across the wider economy.

For lenders, more transparent credit information could also mean applicants come forward with a clearer sense of their financial position. The companies argue this could reduce some of the uncertainty surrounding applications, particularly for owners without specialist finance teams.

Matt Jones, VP, Partners at Equifax UK, said the issue had become as much a confidence gap as a data gap.

“Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy, yet too many still face a confidence shortfall when it comes to seeking funding. Through our partnership with Menna, we want to help change that by democratising access to the financial and credit insights that have traditionally felt out of reach. This is about giving SMEs a clearer roadmap to funding readiness – helping them better understand the factors shaping lender decisions so they can approach borrowing with greater confidence, build resilience, and unlock future sustainable growth,” said Jones.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland has launched a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer service, giving organisations access to senior cyber security leadership without hiring a full-time executive.

The new offering is aimed at businesses that have invested in technical defences but still lack support on governance, risk ownership, compliance and long-term planning.

Those pressures have intensified as organisations face tighter regulation, greater customer scrutiny and wider business uncertainty, while cyber threats continue to evolve. Without dedicated security leadership, companies can be pushed into reactive decision-making and face added strain during incidents, audits or periods of expansion.

The vCISO service is designed to provide experienced senior advice on a flexible basis. It is available through monthly, quarterly and annual arrangements, with pricing based on the level of support required and an organisation’s size, maturity and complexity.

The group is also considering pricing for charities, third sector organisations and start-ups to help ensure cyber security costs do not become a barrier to growth or the handling of sensitive data.

Strategic support

The service focuses on areas that sit above day-to-day technical work, including governance, controls, risk visibility, compliance requirements, and support during audits or certification processes. It is also intended to help organisations respond to customer security demands and bring technology, staff and processes together under a single leadership structure.

For some organisations, that model may be more attractive than hiring a permanent Chief Information Security Officer or entering a traditional retainer arrangement. Smaller businesses in particular often need senior security input only at key points, such as preparing for external audits, seeking funding, entering regulated supply chains or expanding into new markets.

The launch adds a strategic advisory layer to the Centre’s existing Cyber Advance programme, which focuses on technical improvement, ongoing development and staff training over a year-long period. The two services are designed to work together in a phased model that combines higher-level oversight with operational follow-through.

That pairing reflects a broader issue in cyber security spending: organisations can identify weaknesses and receive recommendations, but struggle to implement them over time. By linking strategic advice with implementation support, the Centre aims to address both planning and delivery.

Jude McCorry explained the rationale for the move.

“We developed the vCISO service in direct response to feedback from clients who need strategic direction and expert guidance, but may not require – or be able to justify – a full-time CISO or traditional retainer model. Many organisations prefer a more flexible, project-based approach with clearly defined deliverables.

“Through our vCISO service, we provide the expertise, structure and strategic oversight needed to strengthen cyber resilience in a practical and sustainable way. Our clients and members also recognise that by working with us, they are helping to support Scotland’s wider cyber resilience ecosystem, enabling us to provide low or no-cost access to organisations that may otherwise struggle to afford it.” said Jude McCorry, Chief Executive Officer of Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland.

Market pressure

The launch of virtual security leadership services reflects a wider market trend, as organisations seek access to senior expertise without the salary costs of a permanent executive hire. Demand has grown among mid-sized businesses, public bodies and charities that face many of the same governance and compliance expectations as larger organisations but lack the resources to maintain a full in-house leadership team.

In practice, that can leave responsibility for cyber security spread across finance, operations or IT leaders whose roles already carry broad workloads. The result can be unclear accountability, fragmented risk management and slower decision-making when incidents occur.

As a social enterprise, Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland is also positioning the new service as a way to widen access. Work with commercial clients can help support organisations that might otherwise struggle to pay for specialist advice.

Willie Fairhurst, a board member at the organisation and Chief Executive Officer of Fairhurst Consult, said the service would be particularly useful for smaller clients facing regulatory and market access challenges.

“The vCISO service will be a valuable addition to both our service offering and the support available to our clients. It will be particularly beneficial for smaller organisations that need assistance navigating regulatory requirements to secure funding, or that are looking to expand into markets beyond Scotland. We’re here to help organisations build the confidence and resilience they need to grow securely,” said Fairhurst.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

FreedomPay has published research on customer abuse faced by shop and hospitality staff during payment outages, pointing to payment failures as a flashpoint for frontline worker safety.

More than half of UK retail and hospitality managers, 52%, said they had experienced verbal abuse or threatening behaviour from customers when payment systems went down. The study, conducted with Retail Economics, was based on surveys of 2,000 UK consumers and 200 managers.

The findings add a new dimension to concerns about abuse against shop workers in a sector that represents a substantial share of employment in Britain. Retail and hospitality account for about 2.8 million jobs, close to 10% of national employment.

Payment disruption appears to test customers’ patience quickly. The survey found frustration starts to rise within eight to 13 minutes of a payment failure, while the average outage lasts 79 minutes.

That gap between tolerance and downtime appears to shape consumer behaviour at the till. One in five consumers said they walked out immediately during their most recent payment outage, leaving staff to deal with both the operational problem and rising tension in stores and venues.

Peak pressure

The data suggests the problem is becoming more frequent and harder to manage. Three in four businesses reported that payment disruptions had increased over the past year.

Outages are also increasingly hitting during the busiest trading windows. Nearly three quarters, 72%, now occur during peak periods, up from 60% a year earlier, with lunchtime the most common time for systems to fail.

These conditions can intensify pressure on staff because queues are longer and customers have fewer alternatives when card payments stop working. In a market that has steadily shifted away from cash, a failed terminal can leave both consumers and employees with limited options.

The findings also point to weaknesses in contingency planning across the sector. Fewer than half of the UK businesses surveyed said they had a secondary internet connection to keep payment systems running during connectivity problems.

Only 40% offered offline card processing. Without those measures, staff cannot complete sales through another route and instead must explain delays, calm customers and absorb complaints.

Wider concern

The issue comes against a broader backdrop of concern over violence and intimidation directed at retail workers. Trade union data cited in the research puts abuse against retail workers at 1,600 incidents a day, the second highest level on record.

That wider pattern has often been linked to theft, refusal of service and enforcement of age restrictions. The study suggests technology failures should also be counted among the triggers that can expose frontline workers to hostility.

For businesses, the implications stretch beyond lost sales during an outage. Repeated payment failures can undermine customer trust, disrupt peak-hour trading and increase strain on managers and staff already working in customer-facing roles under tight operational pressure.

The report also highlights how changing payment habits have altered the balance of risk in stores and hospitality venues. As fewer people carry cash, the ability to continue trading during a card outage depends more heavily on network resilience and backup systems than in the past.

This creates a direct link between technical infrastructure and worker welfare. When systems fail and no fallback exists, employees at the counter become the visible face of a problem they cannot fix.

Lunchtime, identified as the most common time for failures, places outages at the centre of the day’s heaviest footfall. For restaurants, cafes and convenience outlets in particular, that timing can turn a technical breakdown into a confrontation within minutes.

FreedomPay’s findings show that payment resilience is not only about maintaining transactions, but also about protecting employees during service disruption. The average outage lasts 79 minutes, far beyond the eight-to-13-minute window in which customer patience starts to break down.