#small-business-loans
Small Business Loans
Small business loan options and application guides
Your Business Partner Has a Green Card? Your SBA Loan Just Got a Lot Harder to Get
As of March 1, 2026, SBA 7(a), 504, and microloan applicants must be 100% owned by U.S. citizens or nationals — green card holders are excluded from any direct or indirect ownership stake. Existing loans are grandfathered; new applicants with a permanent resident anywhere in the ownership chain must turn to CDFIs, state loan programs, or USDA B&I financing instead.
Why the SBA's Easiest Loan Program Just Got a $750,000 Capital Requirement
The SBA's 2025–2026 Community Advantage overhaul caps CA loans at $350,000, requires lenders to hold $750,000 in unencumbered capital as of May 15, 2026, and freezes new CA SBLC licenses — here's what the shrinking lender pool means for startups and underserved borrowers seeking SBA-backed financing.
AI Underwriting in 2026: How Small Business Loans Went From Weeks to Hours
Non-bank lenders now fund small business loans in an average of 1.8 days versus 4–8 weeks at traditional banks, driven by AI underwriting that reads live bank feeds instead of tax returns. Here's how the models judge your business, why a 1.4 factor rate can hide a 150%+ APR, and how clean, reconciled books improve both approval odds and pricing.
A Lender You've Never Heard Of Just Raised $525 Million. Here's What It Means for Your Next "No" From a Bank
Forward Financing closed $525 million in new funding as alternative lenders grew from about 29% of small business lending in 2023 to roughly 41% today. What that shift means for borrowers banks reject, how to convert a factor rate to an effective APR (a 1.35 factor over 9 months is roughly 46%), and a five-point checklist to run before signing any non-bank financing offer.
The 7(a) Program Risk Oversight Act: What SBA Lender Transparency Means for Borrowers
The 7(a) Program Risk Oversight Act would require the SBA to publish loan performance data by loan size, seasoning, borrower age, and lender type — and post it publicly within seven days of reporting to Congress. Here's what lender-level risk data means for the 70,000+ businesses borrowing $31 billion a year through the program, and how to keep your records audit-ready.
The SBA's New MARC Loan: A Practical Guide to Revolving Credit for Manufacturers
The SBA's new MARC loan gives NAICS 31-33 manufacturers up to $5 million in revolving working capital secured by business assets only, priced around prime plus 3.25%, with no personal real estate collateral and no borrowing base certificates required.
Axos Financial Buys Arc Technologies: What the Deal Signals for Small Business Banking
Axos Financial is acquiring Arc Technologies, the AI-native cash management platform, in a deal closing July 2026. With large banks approving only 13–15% of small business loans and fintech lenders now originating 32% of them, the acquisition shows why clean, real-time books are becoming your credit application.
CDFI Loans Explained: How Mission-Driven Lenders Fund the Businesses Banks Reject
CDFIs are Treasury-certified mission-driven lenders that approve roughly 23-30% of small business applicants versus 13-15% at large banks, fund true startups with no hard credit minimums, accept ITINs in place of Social Security numbers, and offer fixed rates as low as 7%. Here's how CDFI underwriting works, who qualifies, and how to apply.
The Community Bank Leverage Ratio Just Dropped to 8%: What It Means for Small Business Credit
On July 1, 2026, the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and OCC lowered the Community Bank Leverage Ratio from 9% to 8%, making roughly 477 more banks eligible for the simplified capital framework and freeing lending capacity at institutions under $10 billion in assets. Here is what the change means for small business borrowers — and how to keep your books loan-ready.
The SBA Just Sunset the SBSS Score — How 7(a) Small Loan Underwriting Works Now
As of March 1, 2026, the SBA eliminated the mandatory FICO SBSS score prescreen for 7(a) Small Loans of $350,000 or less, replacing the single national cutoff (most recently 165) with lender-specific credit models and a new 1.1x minimum debt service coverage ratio — here's what changed, why approval criteria now vary by bank, and how to prepare your financials before applying.
Why Fintechs Are Applying for Bank Charters: The 2026 De Novo Banking Boom Explained
Roughly two dozen fintechs, including Mercury and Upstart, applied for or received OCC national bank charters in 2026 — up from 14 applications in all of 2025 — to escape the sponsor-bank model exposed by the 2024 Synapse collapse and get direct FDIC insurance, lending authority, and payment-rail access.
SBA 7(a) and 504 Loan Eligibility in 2026: New Citizenship Rules and the End of SBSS Credit Scoring
Effective March 1, 2026, SBA 7(a) and 504 loans require 100% of direct and indirect owners to be U.S. citizens or nationals with a U.S. principal residence — green card holders no longer qualify — and the FICO SBSS score is retired in favor of a 1.10 minimum debt service coverage ratio and full commercial credit analysis. Here's who's affected and how to prepare.