Will you SME my Valentine? Judo Bank posts love letter to small business clients

Love is all around. Just check the pages of Australia’s august newspapers, as Judo Bank shares its Valentine’s Day wishes to small business customers.

Judo Bank booked out page seven of Wednesday’s Australian Financial Review for a Valentine’s Day-themed advertisement-slash-love letter to its clientele.

“When we started planning a grand romantic gesture for our hundreds of small and medium business customers, people said we were crazy, but that’s what love does to you,” the letter reads.

Looking past the polyamorous tone of the letter — Judo Bank’s own 2023 financial report revealed it has in excess of 3,700 lending customers, meaning there must be a lot of ‘love’ to share — the lender hits a number of romantic tropes.

There’s the thinly veiled attack to other suitors (“some of you haven’t had the best relationships in the past”), the recognition of real-world struggles (“we love that we get to share the ups and downs”), and a nod to the future (“there’s still so much for us to build together”).

“And to those of you we’re yet to work with, the ones who think a relationship like this sounds like it’s too good to be true, we can assure you this love is real (and we’re open to getting into something new with you too),” the letter concludes, confirming what must be the only open relationship in Australia’s banking firmament.

Beyond just being a fun task for Judo Bank’s copywriting team, the letter speaks to sincere optimism within the company.

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority shows Judo Bank had some $9.7 billion in loans on its books in December 2023, with the vast majority in business lending, and a significantly smaller chunk in home loans.

That’s up from the $9 billion loan book Judo Bank boasted in August 2023, and nudges the bank towards its goal of between $10.5 billion to $10.7 billion in loans by June 2024.

Economic havoc has indeed rattled some of its clients, Judo Bank said in a December update, putting the status of some lending into question.

However, the bank said difficulties were no surprise.

“As expected, the number of customers in 90+ day arrears and impaired continued to increase, however remains below the sector average and within Judo’s long run planning assumptions,” the bank said.

How lovely for them.