Banks are not competitive enough when it comes to granting loans to small and medium-sized firms, the Dutch consumer authority ACM said on Tuesday.

Over the past few years, banks have made more profits on small business loans while the cost to the companies has been going up, the ACM says.

The lack of choice in Dutch banks is also hampering competition and small firms have few alternative sources of finance, the organisation says.

The competition authority wants the government to make it easier for new providers of finance to enter the Dutch market. In addition, banks should give more information to their clients to make it easier to compare offers, the ACM says.