Experienced business bankers are staffing a new hotline to offer would-be borrowers (even if they are non-customers) advice and the potential access to business loans which it hopes will amount to net lending of £39bn by April 2010.

In the first half of 2009, RBS lent £28.6bn to business but net lending was down by £7.3bn because customers paid back more. The bank, which has about 30% of the UK's small business lending market, is on track to meet mortgage lending targets, but the targets for small firms are tougher either because many companies are simply not borrowing while the recession continues or because the pricing of loans rather than a lack of demand is reducing demand.

RBS said it was approving 85% of all credit applications and providing new loans to more than 5,000 firms a week.