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.
Small business loan approval percentages at big banks slipped again, falling from 14.2% in February to 13.8% in March, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released today. This mark is the lowest figure for big banks since July 2021.
Meanwhile, approval rates of business loan applications at small banks also dropped more than two percentage points from February’s figure of 21.3% to 19.1% in March.
As bank lending to small businesses declined, approvals at non-bank lenders rose in each of the categories monitored by the Biz2Credit Index.
-
Alternative lenders climbed to 28.4% in March, up from 27.9% in February.
-
Institutional investors granted 26.5% of funding requests, up from 26.3% in February.
-
Credit unions reversed a year-long decline in approval percentages by rising to 20.2% in March from 20.0% in February.