Biz2Credit announced on Tuesday the results of its latest Small Business Lending Index report, which revealed approval rates for small business loan applications reached a record high of 27.5% at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) in April, up one-tenth of a percent from March, while approval percentages at small banks jumped four-tenths of a percent to 49.8%. While sharing more details about the report’s results, Biz2Credit CEO, Rohit Arora, stated:
“Approvals by banks of all sizes continue to climb. The economy is still strong, and small business optimism is high.Small business lending is as strong as it has ever been in the 21st century’s post-recession era.”
Loan approval rates among alternative lenders dropped one-tenth of a percent to 57.2% in April, down a notch from 57.3% in March. Arora further explained:
“Alternative lenders have had a lot of losses, and there has been a bit of pull-back from them. Banks are lending, and they can offer more attractive rates and terms than alternative lenders can. The banks are getting their applications from higher quality borrowers.”
Credit unions remained at a record low 40.1% of loan applications in April. Arora added:
“Credit unions are beginning to look for FinTech partners to help them upgrade their technology. They have to respond to the marketplace, and Millennials simply won’t take the time to walk in and become a member in order to fill out a loan application. Digitizing the process will help.”
