Menna and Equifax UK have partnered to provide small businesses with greater transparency into their creditworthiness through AI-driven insights.
The collaboration integrates Equifax credit data into Menna's platform to translate financial and credit information into plain-language guidance, with the aim of shifting SMEs from a reactive approach to lending into a state of what the companies describe as 'funding readiness'.
SME lending under pressure
According to the official press release, the partnership comes against a backdrop of tightening credit conditions for small businesses in the UK. The Bank of England has identified a GBP 22 billion SME funding gap, alongside a 20% decline in lending in real terms over the past decade. Access to finance for small businesses has fallen by 25% since the pandemic, with loan acceptance rates now below 50%.
SME confidence in securing finance has also weakened significantly. In Q4 2025, just 45% of small businesses felt confident that a lender would accept their finance application, compared with 66% in 2016, a ten-year low. Despite accounting for approximately 99.8% of the UK business population, many SMEs report limited understanding of how lenders assess their applications or how to improve their outcomes.
The UK Government is also currently reviewing evidence from firms regarding barriers to accessing credit, adding a policy dimension to the broader conversation around SME lending.
How the integration works
Through the partnership, Menna's platform is set to draw on Equifax data to surface the factors influencing a business's creditworthiness, including late payments, outstanding invoices, cashflow, account history, and data accuracy. Rather than encountering these issues only when a finance application is declined, business owners will be able to access early warnings and practical guidance on steps to strengthen their credit profile in advance.
The platform is designed to convert complex credit data into accessible, actionable information, allowing businesses to understand how day-to-day operational decisions affect their long-term financing options.
Dan Mines, Co-Founder of Menna, noted that small businesses should not need to wait for a loan rejection before understanding their credit position, adding that the goal is to equip them with the insight and confidence to plan ahead and pursue growth. Furthermore, Matt Jones, VP, Partners at Equifax UK described the partnership as an effort to make financial and credit insights more accessible to businesses that have historically struggled to obtain them.
