2020 Trends And Developments In Digital Lending In Switzerland

2020 has been a challenging year for Swiss digital lending platforms. However, the Covid-19 crisis is set to accelerate technology adoption among SMEs, which will positively impact growth.

The Swiss government's Covid-19 relief programme for small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) took the wind out of the sails of Switzerland's non-institutional lending platforms this year. "The government's loan program had a strong negative impact on new digital lending volumes" explains Simon Amrein, Secretary-General of the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association. "Many SMEs turned to banks to access the Covid-19 relief programme of platforms, so we did not see market growth figures doubling as we expected. 2020 has probably delayed market development for 12 months."