The report analyses a unique data set, provided by Finfind, of SMME funders and SMMEs seeking finance. It was sponsored by the SA SME Fund and identifies access to finances challenges, gaps and potential solutions.  The Finfind 2017 cleaned data sample of 11 033 SMME funding requests is larger than the South African GEM report and is one of the most comprehensive studies on access to finance in the SMME sector in this country.

Some of the key findings in the report include the need for funders to develop new credit scoring models to address the large credit gap. Currently banks struggle to fund SMMEs. This is often due to a one-size-fits all approach to this market segment and applying traditional lending methods that rely on collateral and conventional financing scorecards, the report also highlights the significance of the SMME credit gap, which is estimated to be as large as R346 billion.