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September / 2021

Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ for September Finds Loan Approval Rates Rise at Banks and at Non-Bank Lenders for Fifth Straight Month

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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) increased from 13.9% in August 2021 to 14% in September, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 194,000 in September, and the unemployment rate declined by 0.4 percentage points to 4.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, Oct. 8. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and in transportation and warehousing. 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%
14.0%
Sep 2021
13.9%
Aug 2021
Yearly Comparison
+0.5%
14.0%
Sep 2021
13.5%
Sep 2020
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“Business owners are investing in their companies, and banks are increasingly willing to lend. These are good signs for the small business economy,” said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, one of the nation’s leading experts in FinTech and small business lending.

Rohit Arora
Biz2Credit CEO
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Small Banks Image
Banks with assets less than $10 billion
Small banks’ approvals also rose in September to 19.5% from 19.3% in the month before, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today.
Monthly Comparison
+0.2%
19.5%
Sep 2021
19.3%
Aug 2021
Yearly Comparison
+1.0%
19.5%
Sep 2021
18.5%
Sep 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 grew to 24.5% in September, up from 24.3% of funding requests in August and up 2.3 percentage points from one year ago.
Monthly Comparison
+0.2%
24.5%
Sep 2021
24.3%
Aug 2021
Yearly Comparison
+2.3%
24.5%
Sep 2021
22.2%
Sep 2020
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Alternative Lenders Image
Independent lending organizations not licensed as banks or credit unions
Alternative lenders approved rose from 25.2% in August to 25.4% of funding applications in September 2021. Last year, the September percentage for alternative lenders was 23.1%.
Monthly Comparison
+0.2%
25.4%
Sep 2021
25.2%
Aug 2021
Yearly Comparison
+2.3%
25.4%
Sep 2021
23.1%
Sep 2020
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“Non-bank lenders are a viable source of funding for companies that need money quickly,” Arora added.

Rohit Arora
Biz2Credit CEO
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Credit Unions Image
Non-profit money cooperatives whose members borrow from pooled deposits
Credit unions approved 20.6% in September, up one tenth of a percent from August, but down from 21% in September 2020.
Monthly Comparison
+0.1%
20.6%
Sep 2021
20.5%
Aug 2021
Yearly Comparison
-0.4%
20.6%
Sep 2021
21.0%
Sep 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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