• At Banca Transilvania, the number-one priority is supporting businesses, including small ones.
• One third of the companies financed received their first funding from BT through IMM Invest.
• The micro-enterprises financed by BT were profitable in 2019.

Banca Transilvania, the leading bank in the IMM Invest programme, has so far approved more than 7,000 loans, bringing over 2.5 billion lei into the economy and supporting more than 70,000 jobs in every county. Nearly 60% of these loans went to micro-enterprises, for which IMM Invest is a welcome measure to keep operations going so the economy can continue to rely on them in the future.

The micro-enterprises financed by BT under IMM Invest are businesses with turnover of up to 500,000 lei. They were profitable in 2019 — at least at the operating level — and now have a much more stable business outlook. Access to programme loans was eased by minimal guarantee requirements: in practice, a state guarantee was required and, for investment loans, a mortgage/pledge over the assets purchased under the project.

One third of the companies financed by BT received funding from Banca Transilvania for the first time. As a result, IMM Invest has brought the bank over 1,500 new borrowers. The programme has contributed to BT’s plan to continue supporting as many small companies as possible.

“We talked a lot about the large number of applications and how to organize ourselves. Our main idea was to support as many small firms as possible, and we made sure our requirements were reasonable for them. Access to finance and the health of small or young firms has been a common thread at BT for many years. Of course we paid equal attention to established businesses, but it was clear that a major effort would be needed. You work harder for a large number of small loans. Still, if we had to start over, we would do the same.” - said Tiberiu Moisa, Director General Adjunct MidCorporate & IMM, Banca Transilvania.

In the four months since the start of the IMM Invest programme, Banca Transilvania has deployed over 70% of the 3.48 billion lei allocated by the Government. The main sectors financed by the bank under IMM Invest are trade, transport and construction. Even though most of the programme’s allocated ceiling is used or in the process of being used, BT will continue advising clients on accessing the most suitable financing solutions under IMM Invest.

Banca Transilvania publishes weekly on the bank’s website, in the Newsroom, the status of approvals for loan applications under IMM Invest.