Westpac lends A$1b to 2,100 women entrepreneurs over 3 years

Women-led businesses are starting and scaling up across Australia, said Westpac’s Paul Fowler.

Westpac lent over A$1b to over 2,100 women entrepreneurs over the past three years.

The Australian bank said that it has funded women-led companies in the business services, retail, health & business, and professional services industries, amongst others.

Westpac is seeing female-led business grow in every state and territory in Australia, most notably in places outside major metros, said Paul Fowler, Westpac Chief Executive, Business & Wealth.

“Whilst capital cities still have the largest number of female-led businesses starting up or scaling up, we’re now seeing more growth outside the major metros—especially in regional Queensland and Western Australia,” Fowler said.

Separately, Westpac had recently hiked its home loan rate by 0.25%, as did other major banks in Australia.