Denied a Small Business Loan? Here’s How You Quickly Rebuild Credit

NEW YORK, NY (September 15, 2017) — For small business owners and entrepreneurs, loans are often essential for growth. But a bad credit score may prevent you from getting a loan you need. If you’re in this spot, then you need to start rebuilding your credit fast!

Bad Credit = Big Problem. Despite this country’s affinity for buying on credit, many Americans still don’t fully grasp what their credit score is, how it’s calculated, or how it can affect their ability to borrow. This, of course, means they’re vulnerable and prone to making poor decisions.

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Is AI a Threat to Fair Lending?

NEW YORK, NY (September 14, 2017) — There are all sorts of legal and technical issues about how lending rules apply to the new breed of online lenders, but here’s a more fundamental one: How sure are they their automated technology is colorblind?

Even if a company has the best intentions of following fair-lending principles, it’s debatable whether the artificial intelligence engines that online lenders typically use —and that banks are just starting to deploy — are capable of making credit decisions without inadvertently lending in affluent sections and not in minority neighborhoods."

To read the entire article, read here.

Small Business Head Sees Businesses Held Back By Lack of Loans, Workers

NEW YORK, NY (September 13, 2017) — Six months into her tenure as head of the Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon sees a split among small business owners — they are increasingly optimistic, she says, but many are held back by their inability to get loans or find the right workers for jobs that are staying open.

"Entrepreneurs are willing again to be bigger risk-takers than they have been over the past eight years," McMahon said in a phone interview this week with The Associated Press. But, she said, there are also lingering effects of the Great Recession, and "I think there is still a caution."

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‘Fintech’ Loans: A Sometimes Costly Lifeline for Small Business

RICHMOND, CA (September 12, 2017) — Che Al-Barri remembers feeling like he was drowning in debt last year. He had taken out a $70,000 loan for his small cleaning company, but was struggling to repay it.

The lender, a financial technology — or fintech — company, automatically collected $331 from his bank account daily, Monday through Friday. The frequent hits depleted his income and took a toll on his business, he said.

“If you get hit every single day you have no time to breathe,” said Al-Barri, 45, who grew up in Richmond. “It put me up against the wall. There was many times I pulled the covers over my head and just laid there like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?'”

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Fintech Helps Banks Disburse More Loans

NEW YORK, NY (September 4, 2017) — Two years of fin tech driven reach has helped banks grow about 15 to 20 per cent indicating that banks’ dependence on `feet-on-street’ to campaign for loans may recede in a few years. Bankers said nearly a third of their customers below 30 years were on-boarded through the digital platform. 

Banks are using FinTech players to qualify good customers faster and give on the fly credit. Significant reduction in time used for taking better credit decisions have led to higher conversion in disbursal of loans.

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Lending as a Service (LaaS) and Why it Matters

NEW YORK, NY (August 23, 2017) — Traditional financial services providers have tightened their lending requirements, leaving many small business owners with few channels to uncover the capital they need.

The financial crisis of 2008 caused global shockwaves, wrecking businesses and wiping away thousands of dollars’ worth of individuals’ savings. World markets are still recovering to this day, and governments have enacted strong reforms to prevent a repeat occurrence. These new, stricter regulations have deeply changed the financial world. Along with shifts in consumer preferences, banks and lenders are now faced with a vastly different financing landscape.

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Startups Still Struggle Finding Funds (Fueling Online Lending’s Growth)

NEW YORK, NY (August 10, 2017) — While startups and small business are often (rightly) hailed as the engines that power growth in the American economy, when it comes time to secure funds — the situation gets tricky. Stated simply, ten years out of the financial crisis and small business lending remains a chronically sluggish and difficult to work in environment.

According to a report by the country’s 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, over half of all startups report difficulty in securing loans and 81 percent report having had to dip into their personal funds to cover gaps in their corporate cash flow. Startups, as defined by the new report, are firms that are less than two years old and employing less than 500 workers.

“Given the importance of startups for the economy, the question of startup capital is of central importance,” according to the 2016 Small Business Credit Survey Report on Startup Firms. “While funding is the lifeblood of every company, capital is especially critical for startups. To reach scale, startups need to be able to secure expansion capital.

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Online Lending Has Reached a Tipping Point

NEW YORK, NY (May 1, 2017) - Online lenders have been facing an uphill battle recently as investors question whether they are truly getting the loan transparency they need to confidently invest in this young industry. Investors, credit providers and ratings agencies are worried about loan data integrity as well as collateral and ownership rights behind the loans.

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When Does a Lender Become a Loan Shark?

NEW YORK, NY (April 5, 2017) - At what point does a lender (good) become a loan shark (bad)? The question has exercised philosophers—and unhappy borrowers—from antiquity to the present.

To read the entire article, click here. 

Small Business Lending: Finding, Fitting, Financing

NEW YORK, NY (January 5, 2017) - Access to capital is consistently raised as a pressure point for small businesses. However, simply saying it’s challenging to obtain capital isn’t all that helpful without getting to the crux of the issue. We recently gathered a group of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumni to probe more deeply into their experiences getting capital. One result of our discussion was a breakdown of their capital search into a series of definable steps:

• Finding - identifying the available sources of capital

• Fitting - deciding which source is the best fit for you and your business

• Financing - determining what are the most important components of the deal

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With Credit Tight, More Small Businesses Turn to Online Lenders

ASHEVILLE, NC (July 21, 2015) - Jason Curtis just got tired of being told no.

Over three years, the Hendersonville man estimates he went to six banks and a handful of credit unions. He hoped for approval for a $25,000 loan — money he needed to buy inventory like bedding and mattresses to grow his furniture business.

Curtis can't remember how many times he sat across from a banker and shared his story, his credit history and his business plan.

But he can't forget all the times he was told no.

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Small Business Loans: Three Tips to Bouncing Back From Rejection

NEW YORK, NY (March 31, 2015) - Many very successful business owners have experienced a small business loan application rejection. In fact, some statistics suggest that less than 50 percent of business owners are able to get approved for a small business loan. How well you’re able to bounce back from rejection today will greatly impact whether or not you’ll be successful tomorrow.

Here are three suggestions that will help you regroup, reapply, and reap the rewards of a successful loan application.

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Alternative Lenders Peddle Pricey Commercial Loans

With Credit for Businesses Tight, Nonbank Lenders Offer Financing at a Price.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (January 7, 2014) - When Khien Nguyen needed $180,000 to open his 13th nail salon near Philadelphia in November, he didn't go to a bank. Mr. Nguyen's credit score had dropped during the recession, so he figured a bank would put him through weeks of aggravation, then reject him.

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