Biz lending up, CUs outshine big, small banks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
new york city, New York, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) December 22, 2011 -- A rise from the 61.8 percent during October, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, an analysis of 1,000 loan applications on Biz2Credit.com.

Credit unions granted 57 percent of small business funding requests, up from 56.6 percent in October. Loan approvals by small banks increased to 47 percent in November, their highest rate this year and an increase from 46.3 percent in October. Approvals by large banks also rose, reaching 10 percent for the first time since April.

"Optimism seems to be returning," said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora. "We have seen an increase in the sheer volume of loan applications, which is a good sign. The strong start of the holiday shopping season combined with the latest jobs report showing that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.6% in November--its lowest level in two-and-a-half years--indicates that brighter days may be ahead."

Biz2Credit's analysis also found that loan request amounts ranged from $25,000 to $3 million; that the average credit score was above 680, and that average time in business was slightly more than two years.

The study indicates that demand for member business loans (MBL) is arising.

The Credit Union National Association estimates that increasing the current 12.25 percent of assets MBL cap to 27.5 percent of a credit union's total assets would have a number of beneficial effects on the ailing economy, including infusing $13 billion in new credit for small businesses and adding 140,000 new jobs within the first year of enactment--all at no cost to the American taxpayer.

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