Small business lending is at an all time high in New York, according to the Biz2Credit December 2017 Small Business Lending Index.
The index examined more than 1,000 small business loan applications, according to the New York Daily News.
Big banks accounted for 25.3 percent of the business loan approval rates, while institutional lenders accounted for 64.3 percent. Small banks accounted for the 49.1 percent of the funding requests that they received in December.
Loan approval rates among alternative lenders were at a 56.9 percent approval.
The increased small business lending can be credited to the high confidence exhibited across the country. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index also shows the high confidence in the country.
According to the article, the economy is performing well on many different levels including high holiday retail sales, low unemployment rates, and raised salaries.
Biz2Credit expects this trend to last, as well as small banks continuing to be some of the most active lending partners.
“This is good news for aspiring business owners who might not have good credit scores and are unlikely to secure a traditional small business loan from a bank,” Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Biz2Credit, wrote in the New York Daily News.
According to the article, for about the past three years approval percentages at regional and community banks have remained near 49 percent. The last time percentages this high were recorded was in October 2014.
Lenders who have gone digital have become more accessible to users as fewer small business owners actually walk into banks. Branches have become scattered across Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
According to Biz2Credit, six out of 10 applications came from a mobile device rather than a desktop.
“There has been a true revolution in small business finance that is making capital — the lifeblood of any company — more readily available. Since small businesses help drive the economy and create jobs, economic times are quite good,” Arora wrote in the New York Daily News.
