This week’s inquiry into small business loan practices saw the big four banks in the spotlight yet again this year, and the focus was on loan limits, communication and fairness.

Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell grilled senior management from the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, NAB and Westpac on Tuesday and Wednesday, asking for specific explanations on how the banks explained complicated loan contracts and requirements to small businesses. Carnell drove home repeatedly how “naïve” she had been when previously taking out a small business loan for her own business, at the time unaware of the number of factors that could have affected her loan conditions in the long term.