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April / 2021

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Finds April 2021 Non-PPP Loan Approval Rates Move Little for All Types of Lenders

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Big BanksImage
Banks with assets greater than $10 billion
Small business loan approval percentages at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) dipped slightly to 13.4% in April from 13.5% in March 2021, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported nonfarm payroll employment rose by 266,000 in April, while the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.1%. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality and other services. Many of these jobs are created by small businesses.

Biz2Credit analyzed loan requests from companies in business more than two years with credit scores above 680. The results are based on primary data submitted by more than 1,000 small business owners who applied for funding on Biz2Credit's platform.

Monthly Comparison
-0.1%
13.4%
April 2021
13.5%
March 2021
Yearly Comparison
+4.5%
13.4%
April 2021
8.9%
April 2020
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“Traditional small business loans are hard to obtain at the moment, much more so that they were before the pandemic,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, one of the nation’s leading experts in small business finance. “Banks have been flooded with applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans since the program entered its second round.”

Rohit Arora
Biz2Credit CEO
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Small Banks Image
Banks with assets less than $10 billion
Small banks’ approvals dropped to 18.2% in April, down one-tenth of a percent from 18.3% in March.
Monthly Comparison
-0.1%
18.2%
April 2021
18.3%
March 2021
Yearly Comparison
+6.4%
18.2%
April 2021
11.8%
April 2020
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Institutional Lenders Image
Investment groups or large investment portfolios such as insurance funds, mutual funds and hedge funds
Institutional lenders approved 23.5% of funding requests last month, up from 23.3% in March.
Monthly Comparison
+0.2%
23.5%
April 2021
23.3%
March 2021
Yearly Comparison
+5.4%
23.5%
April 2021
18.1%
April 2020
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Alternative Lenders Image
Independent lending organizations not licensed as banks or credit unions
Alternative lenders rose one-tenth of a percent to 24.0% in April from 23.9% in March.
Monthly Comparison
+0.1%
24.0%
April 2021
23.9%
March 2021
Yearly Comparison
+8.8%
24.0%
April 2021
15.2%
April 2020
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“Institutional lenders and alternative lenders say slight increases in approval rates, but we are still far from where we were before the coronavirus hit in March 2020,” Arora said. “Hopefully, as the infection rates decline and the economy shows signs of recovery, small business loan approvals will begin a steadier upward trend for all categories of lenders.”

Rohit Arora
Biz2Credit CEO
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Credit Unions Image
Non-profit money cooperatives whose members borrow from pooled deposits
Credit unions dipped to a 20.3% approval rate in April, down a notch from 20.4% in March 2021.
Monthly Comparison
-0.1%
20.3%
April 2021
20.4%
March 2021
Yearly Comparison
+2.2%
20.3%
April 2021
18.1%
April 2020

The Report

About Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™

The Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ is an analysis of 1,000 monthly loan applications on the Biz2Credit website. The Index reports the loan approval rates of small business financing requests at Big Banks ($10 billion+ in assets), local and regional banks and non-bank lenders (credit unions, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), micro lenders, and others).

Unlike other surveys, the results are based on primary data submitted by more than 1,000 entrepreneurs who applied for funding on Biz2Credit's online lending platform, which connects small business borrowers with sources of capital.

Results of the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ have been reported by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur.com, Bloomberg Radio's "The Hays Advantage", SBA Radio, NY Daily News, Crain's NY Business, Michigan Banker, and other media.

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