Small Business Loan Approval Rates Rebound at Big Banks, According to November 2014 Biz2Credit Small Business Lending IndexsuperscriptstartTMsuperscruptend

Lending Approval Rates Reach New All-Time High at Big Banks Drop for Sixth Consecutive Month at Small Banks

Big Banks

Big Banks

Small business loan approval rates at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) bounced back in November to 20.8% after a setback in the month of October, according to the November 2014 Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, a monthly analysis of 1,000 loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. In October, big banks granted 20.4% of loan requests.

Aug 2018
26.5%
Sep 2018
26.7%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2018
26.5%
Sep 2018
26.7%

Yearly Comparison

"Big banks have better name recognition and are offering more attractive rates than their smaller competitors. They continue to show their commitment of lending to qualified small business owners".

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Economy

"Meanwhile, their commitment to investment into digitization is paying off as more borrowers seek to do business via smart phones and tablets. Big banks have increased their loan approval rates by 20 percent over the last year".

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Small Banks

Small Banks

Meanwhile, for the first time in nearly a year, small banks are denying more than half of their loan requests. The percentage of loans granted by small banks slipped for the sixth consecutive month to 49.8% from 50.2% in October.

Jul 2018
49.7%
Aug 2018
49.8%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2017
49%
Aug 2018
49.8%

Yearly Comparison

"Many of the smaller banks are starting to feel the squeeze of failing to adapt to their competition integrating technology","More credit-worthy borrowers are turning to big banks and institutional lenders because of their increased willingness to lend and the simplicity of getting financing from these lenders".

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Institutional lenders

Institutional lenders

Meanwhile, institutional lenders granted 59.9% of the funding requests they received in November, a slight increase from 59.7% in October. Approval rates by institutional lenders have increased each month since Biz2Credit began monitoring this category of lenders in January 2014.

Jul 2018
64.8%
Aug 2018
64.9%

Monthly Comparison

Jul 2018
63.9%
Aug 2018
64.9%

Yearly Comparison

"Institutional lenders continue to capitalize on the decreasing demand of short-term loans","They are taking market share from small banks."

Rohit Arora

Rohit Arora, Biz2Credit CEO

Alternative lenders

Alternative lenders

At the same time, approval rates at alternative lenders -- merchant cash advance companies, factors, and other non-bank institutions -- slipped for the tenth consecutive month to 62% in November, from 62.1% in October.

Jul 2018
56.5%
Aug 2018
56.6%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2017
57.1%
Aug 2018
56.6%

Yearly Comparison

Credit unions

Credit unions

credit unions granted 43.4% of loan applications in November, a slight drop over the approval rate of 43.5% last month as they continue to struggle making a wider presence in the small business finance marketplace.

Jul 2018
40.3%
Aug 2018
40.2%

Monthly Comparison

Aug 2017
40.3%
Aug 2018
40.2%

Yearly Comparison

View Past Months

Access Archives

March 2023

Small Business Bank Loan Approvals Dropped Dramatically in March: Biz2Credit Study

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index finds funding requests at banks declined after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse; borrowers had more success with non-bank lenders.

View Report
February 2023

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ Reports a Decrease in Loan Approval Rates at Banks and Credit Unions in February 2023

Business loan approval rates rose at Institutional Investors and Alternative Lenders.

View Report
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

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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