Credit Review: what to do when AIB, Bank of Ireland or PTSB refuses your business a loan

Your rights when any lender turns you down

The Central Bank's rules on lending to small and medium businesses cover every regulated lender, credit unions included. They are strongest for a business with fewer than 50 staff and turnover of €10 million or less.

A lender that refuses a business of that size must give its reasons in writing, specific to the application. It must also offer an internal appeal, heard by at least two people who were not involved before, and allow at least 20 working days to make it.

If the lender cannot decide on a completed application or an appeal within 15 working days, it has to tell you why and how long it will take.

Credit Review is the step after the internal appeal, and it only covers the three main banks.

What Credit Review can and cannot do

The service began as the Credit Review Office in 2010. The Credit Review Act 2026 made it an independent statutory body on 1 July 2026.

It can review these decisions by a bank:

• a refusal of business credit
• a reduction or withdrawal of credit you already have
• a refusal to restructure a business debt
• no decision within 15 working days, where the bank has not told you it needs longer
• an offer on terms so harsh that it amounts to a refusal

A credit reviewer looks at whether the business is viable and can repay. Credit Review then either upholds the bank's decision or recommends that the bank offer you credit on terms it sets out.

The bank does not have to follow the recommendation. It must answer within 5 working days, and if it will not comply it must give its reasons. You are sent a copy.

From 2010 to the end of 2024, Credit Review gave an opinion in 1,014 cases. It sided with the borrower in 597 of them, which is 59%, and with the bank in 417. Credit Review says the bank has complied with its recommendations in over 80% of cases.

Who cannot use it

• Anyone refused by a credit union or a non-bank lender. The 2026 Act lets the Minister for Finance add other regulated lenders later, but that has not been done.
• Anyone looking for less than €1,000 or more than €3 million.
• Personal borrowers. The service covers business credit for small and medium businesses, sole traders and farms only.
• Businesses with 250 or more employees.
• Anyone who has not been through the bank's internal appeal.
• Anyone whose application arrives more than 30 days after the bank's decision. The Act allows up to 10 extra days where the delay was outside your control.
• Borrowers in Northern Ireland.

An informal no at the counter or on the phone is not enough either. Make a formal written application to the bank first, so that there is a decision to review.

How to apply, step by step

1. Ask the bank for its refusal and its reasons in writing.
2. Appeal inside the bank. This alone can get the decision reversed. Credit Review's helpline, 0818 211 789, will help you with it.
3. If the internal appeal fails, download the application form from the Credit Review website. There is one form for businesses and one for farms.
4. Pay the fee by cheque, postal order, bank draft or bank transfer.
5. Print the form, sign it by hand, and email a scan to info@creditreview.ie or post it to Credit Review, The Plaza, East Point Business Park, Dublin 3, D03 E5R6.
6. Credit Review asks the bank to explain its decision, a reviewer studies your case, and an opinion issues in about 4 weeks.
7. The bank replies to Credit Review and confirms what happens next.

The Act lets Credit Review waive the fee where charging it would be unfair, for example where you have made other applications in the past year.

What the form asks for

The business form runs to 8 pages. It asks for:

• what the business does, how long it has traded and who runs it
• every existing loan, with the amount owed, the repayments and whether they are up to date
• any security the bank holds or has asked for
• any tax, VAT, PAYE or rates owed, and for how long
• the loan that was refused: the amount, the term and what it was for
• how the business will repay, and how much of the project it is paying for itself
• your latest accounts and any management accounts, business plan or cashflow forecast you have
• why you think the bank said no, and what happens to the business and its jobs without the loan

You also sign a consent so that the bank and Credit Review can share your file.

Credit Review's own guide for borrowers says a bank will look for an up-to-date business plan and cashflow projections for at least a year. If yours were thin the first time, a plan written under the headings lenders look for and a cashflow forecast for the next 12 months give the bank and the reviewer more to work with.

If the answer is still no

A bank refusal is not the end of the road. The State-backed lender for firms with fewer than 10 staff exists for businesses that cannot borrow from a bank, and it takes 1% off its rate if your bank refers you.

You could also ask about a business loan from your credit union, or use our loan finder to see which other lenders might suit you.

Common questions

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