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July / 2021

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Finds Loan Approval Rates Rose at Banks and at Institutional and Alternative Lenders in July 2021

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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) jumped from 13.6% in June 2021 to 13.8% in July, the same percentage as a year ago, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 943,000 in July, and the unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage point to 5.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, August 6. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, and in professional and business 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
+0.2%
13.8%
July 2021
13.6%
June 2021
Yearly Comparison
0%
13.8%
July 2021
13.8%
July 2020
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“Overall, the economy has rebounded fairly well, and many small businesses are again investing in their companies,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, one of the nation’s leading experts in small business finance. “Approval rates increased both at big banks and at smaller banks, including regional and community banks that increasingly are partnering with FinTechs to digitize the small business loan application process.” “Big banks remain comparatively stingy in their small business loan-making. This is opening up opportunities for smaller banks and alternative lenders to gain market share,” Arora added.

Rohit Arora
Biz2Credit CEO
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Small Banks Image
Banks with assets less than $10 billion
Small banks’ approvals also rose from 18.9% in June to 19.1% in July, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today. The approval percentage at small banks is up one-half of a percent from one year ago.
Monthly Comparison
+0.2%
19.1%
July 2021
18.9%
June 2021
Yearly Comparison
+0.5%
19.1%
July 2021
18.6%
July 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 to 23.9% in July, up one-tenth of a percent from 23.8% of funding requests in June and up two full percentage points from one year ago.
Monthly Comparison
+0.1%
23.9%
July 2021
23.8%
June 2021
Yearly Comparison
+2.0%
23.9%
July 2021
21.9%
July 2020
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Alternative Lenders Image
Independent lending organizations not licensed as banks or credit unions
Alternative lenders approved rose two-tenths of a percent from 24.5% in June to 24.7% of funding applications in July 2021. Last year, the July percentage for alternative lenders was 23.1%.
Monthly Comparison
+0.2%
24.7%
July 2021
24.5%
June 2021
Yearly Comparison
+1.6%
24.7%
July 2021
23.1%
July 2020
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“Non-banks lenders are a viable source of capital for small business owners, including women-owned and minority-owned businesses,” Arora said. “Non-bank lenders typically focus less on FICO scores and more on the financial health of the borrowers who are applying for funding.”

Rohit Arora
Biz2Credit CEO
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Credit Unions Image
Non-profit money cooperatives whose members borrow from pooled deposits
Credit unions approved 20.5% in July, the same percentage as the month prior, but down from 21.2% last year in July 2020.
Monthly Comparison
0%
20.5%
July 2021
20.5%
June 2021
Yearly Comparison
-0.7%
20.5%
July 2021
21.2%
July 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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