On 14 March 2012, the European Commission announced that it has decided to approve two UK aid schemes which are intended to facilitate access to credit for small and medium sized enterprises. The Commission found that the first scheme, the National Loan Guarantee Scheme, is in line with the crisis state aid rules for banks because it ensures the reduced funding costs from which banks will benefit are passed on to SMEs. The second scheme, the Business Finance Partnership, aims to increase the credit supply to SMEs through non-bank lending.