Small business loan approval percentages at large banks (over $ 10 billion in assets) fell from 14.1% in October to 14.2% in November, according to the Small Loan Index Biz2Credit companies. At the same time, approval rates for smaller banks also rose, from 19.7% in October to 19.9% ​​in November.
“All categories of lenders except credit unions, which remained stable, saw their loan approval percentages increase this month,†said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit. “Bank approval percentages are increasing, but more slowly than we would have hoped to date. It’s encouraging, but all categories of lenders are well below pre-COVID approval levels. “
Institutional lender approval rates fell from 24.7% in October to 24.8% in November. Alternative lender approval rates fell from 25.6% of small business financing applications in October to 25.8% in November.
“We continue to see small improvements in approval rates among institutional lenders and alternative lenders,†said Arora. “It’s something of a bright spot right now.”
Credit unions approved 20.6% of funding requests in November, the same percentage as in October.
“Small business loans through credit unions appear to have stalled,†Arora said. “Other types of non-bank lenders are more likely to approve funding applications than credit unions at this point. “
For the index, Biz2Credit analyzed loan applications from businesses that have been in business for more than two years with credit scores above 680. The results are based on primary data submitted by over 1,000 small business owners who have applied for funding on the Biz2Credit platform.