NEW YORK, March 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Small business loan approval percentages at big banks ($10 + in assets) rose from 14.5% in January to 14.7% in January, and small banks’ approvals also increased from 20.3% in January to 20.5% in February, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today.
Among several categories of non-bank lenders, approval percentages also climbed. Institutional lenders approved 25.2% of funding requests in January, up one-tenth of a percent from 25.1% in January. Alternative lenders’ approval rates rose from 26.3% in January to 26.5% in February. Credit unions remained stagnant at 20.7% in February.
“Two years ago, bank approval percentages were almost double what they are today for all categories of lenders,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, one of the nation’s leading experts in small business lending and FinTech. “For instance, in February 2020, big banks approved 28.3% of loan requests, while small banks approved more than half (50.3%) of loan applications.”
“Non-bank lender percentages in 2020 were even higher: institutional lenders approved nearly two-thirds (66.5%) of small business loan requests, at the time an all-time high. Meanwhile, alternative lenders granted 55.9%, and credit unions approved 39.6%,” added Arora, who has overseen Biz2Credit’s index for more than a decade. “We have a long way to go before we reach those marks again – if we ever do.”
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February, and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.8%, according to the Jobs Report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, March 4. Employment growth continued in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, health care, and construction. 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. To view the report for February 2022, click here.
About Biz2Credit
Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged more than $7 billion in small business financing. The company is expanding its industry-leading technology in custom digital platform solutions for banks and other financial institutions, investors, and service providers. Visit www.biz2credit.com or Twitter @Biz2Credit, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Media contact: John Mooney, Over The Moon PR, (908) 720-6057, john@overthemoonpr.com
