NYT: To Get a Business Loan, Know How the Bank Thinks

By Scott Mendintz

To hear some small-business owners talk, getting a loan remains all but impossible. And yet, many bankers claim that their small-business loan volume is up significantly. So, is the small-business credit crisis over or not?

At first blush, the evidence seems contradictory. On one hand, many national banks have drastically cut back small-business lending. In addition, Advanta, a major issuer of small-business credit cards, declared on May 12 that it was closing customer accounts to new charges.

On the other hand, the Federal Reserve’s April survey of lending practices showed credit conditions have loosened. The Small Business Administration says the weekly volume of loans to small businesses is up more than 25 percent since March. And community banks, those smallish, old-fashioned institutions that make up the vast majority of the country’s 8,300 banks, say that they are ready to take back customers from the national lenders. (more)