Loan Approvals at Banks and Institutional Lenders Increase Slightly, While Small Banks and Credit Unions Dip, According to Biz2Credit Small Business Lending IndexsuperscriptstartTMsuperscruptend for February 2016

Loan approval rates at both big banks and institutional lenders improved slightly in February 2016, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending IndexsuperscriptstartTMsuperscruptend, the monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. Once again, loan approval percentages at small banks dipped slightly, while credit unions fell to an all-time Index low.

Big Banks

Big Banks

Lending approval rates at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) increased slightly as they approved 22.8% of funding requests in February, up just one tenth of a percent from January 2016.

Aug 2018
26.5%
Sep 2018
26.7%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2018
26.5%
Sep 2018
26.7%

Yearly Comparison

"The stock market is still relatively volatile, and there is uncertainty in the marketplace for lenders."

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Economy

"The stock market is still relatively volatile, and there is uncertainty in the marketplace for lenders."

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Small Banks

Small Banks

Approval percentages at small banks dropped slightly to 48.9% in February from 49% the previous month.

Jul 2018
49.7%
Aug 2018
49.8%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2017
49%
Aug 2018
49.8%

Yearly Comparison

Institutional lenders

Institutional lenders

Lending approval rates at institutional lenders saw a slight uptick in February, improving to 62.7% from 62.6% in January. Since Biz2Credit started following this category of lenders in 2014, institutional lenders have yet to experience a setback month.

Jul 2018
64.8%
Aug 2018
64.9%

Monthly Comparison

Jul 2018
63.9%
Aug 2018
64.9%

Yearly Comparison

"Institutional lenders continue to make an impact in small business lending." "We expect to see more international funds enter the marketplace in search of higher yields -- especially with growing uncertainty in global emerging markets."

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Alternative lenders

Alternative lenders

Loan approval rates among alternative lenders rose to 56.6%, one-tenth of a percent higher than in the previous month.Loan approval rates at alternative lenders remained at 60.8% in February, tying the all-time low set in January. Approval percentages for alternative lenders have gradually declined since January 2014. This trend coincides with the emergence of institutional lenders in the small business lending marketplace.

Jul 2018
56.5%
Aug 2018
56.6%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2017
57.1%
Aug 2018
56.6%

Yearly Comparison

"Alternative lenders typically offer loan products at high interest rates. The businesses that resort to borrowing money from them often have low credit scores and thus have fewer options."

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Credit unions

Credit unions

Credit unions approved 42.1% of loan applications in February, down slightly from 42.2% in January. February's figure is yet another Index low for credit union approval.

Jul 2018
40.3%
Aug 2018
40.2%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2017
40.3%
Aug 2018
40.2%

Yearly Comparison

"Credit unions are not doing much to improve their small business lending, namely investing in technology," said Arora. "Credit unions face challenges in competing for credit-worthy borrowers."

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

View Past Months

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January 2023

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Reports Growth in Business Loan Approval Rates at Non-Bank Lenders in January 2023

Business loan approval rates rose at Institutional Investors, Alternative Lenders and Small Banks, while Big Banks and Credit Unions slipped again.

View Report
December 2022

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Reports Little to No Growth in Loan Approval Percentages in 2022

December 2022 approval rates rose slightly at Small Banks, Institutional Investors, and Alternative Lenders while Big Banks and Credit Unions stalled last month.

View Report
November 2022

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Reports Loan Approval Percentages Dropped at Banks and Credit Unions in November

Approval rates rose slightly at Institutional and Alternative Lenders last month

View Report
October 2022

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Reports Loan Approval Percentages Dropped at Banks and Non-Bank Lenders in October 2022

Lending rates at big banks dropped for the fourth consecutive month, while approvals percentages at small banks dipped for the first time in over a year. Non-bank lenders also stalled.

View Report

About Biz2Credit Small Business Lending IndexTM

The Biz2Credit Small Business Lending IndexTM 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 IndexTM 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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