The Small Business Lending Climate is Bad, But it’s Not a Disaster

January 27, 2012 | By: Sean Murray

We’re proponents of the Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) financial product, but we also believe in objectivity. Over the last several years, MCA providers have collectively rallied the masses by branding themselves as a source of business financing in an economy where financing is scarce.

Many people consider the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 to be the official start of the latest recession. Some will argue that we’re still in that recession. We would probably agree with that. Either way, there hasn’t been much improvement in the financial markets.

Yesterday, on Sean Hannity’s radio show, guest speaker Donald Trump, said “banks aren’t lending.” That’s verbatim and it says a lot, considering that yesterday was January 26th, 2012, a full three years after Lehman’s demise.

A friend of ours that does commercial banking in Philadelphia reiterated the same thing to us a few months ago and even went so far to reveal that restaurants and retail establishments are on their lending blacklist. These revelations paint a grim picture and it’s fortunate that the MCA industry has risen to the challenge to support small business owners.

But there is light at the end of the lending world’s black hole. This morning we had a meeting with a big bank in New York City and of course we asked the question, “Are you lending to small businesses?” They responded, “yes”, and we expected them to follow it with a “but.” Except they didn’t. In fact, they said that small business lending was their biggest market right now.

Intrigued, we demanded to know more. Approximately 50% of applications are being approved and the criteria is as follows:

Minimum two years in business
Minimum personal FICO score of 680
Minimum $250,000 in annual sales
Must have consistent pattern of sales
No history of overdrafts or NSFs
Must prove history of keeping substantial cash reserves in the business account
Must be current with all vendors and business property landlord
Collateral may be required
Maximum approval amount is 20% of annual gross sales

This checklist is challenging. That’s why leveraging your future credit and debit card sales to obtain a large chunk of capital upfront is not only the preferred method of financing for businesses with bad credit, but also for those that are making a serious investment in themselves.

Nonetheless, if a bank IS lending, we’ll be the first ones to admit it. MCAs offer a lot of powerful benefits, but if all banks start lending again one day in the future, quoting Donald Trump might not have the same impact it once did. Fortunately, there are twenty other reasons why MCA is a solid solution, and what banks are doing or aren’t doing is completely irrelevant.

– deBanked
https://debanked.com

Note:
If you are a small business located in the New York City area that is interested in a loan as described above, we would be happy to personally refer you to that bank.

Last modified: January 30, 2012