Battle for Small Business Capital Access: Traditional vs. Alternative Lenders

September 20, 2017

Battle for Small Business Capital Access: Traditional vs. Alternative Lenders

by Michael Schwartz, Director, Business Development
Moody’s Analytics

Just over 15 years ago, little-know startup Netflix was offered up for sale to movie rental mainstay Blockbuster, which opted to pass. The concept of acquiring a subscription network for movie rentals, offering at-home delivery, may have seemed far-fetched. Why alter a flourishing system in which customers would willingly head out to their local branch to pick up the same copy?

Banks are now finding themselves at a similar crossroad with their ability to serve small and medium-sized enterprises. Capital access gaps lingering from the Great Recession have opened up the door for innovative financial technology companies to step in, offering quick access to capital and enhanced user experiences for this important segment.

One of the biggest underlying problems is that traditional banks employ the same workflow processes and staffing resources toward analyzing the majority of credit requests, regardless of loan size, making the pursuit of small business lending a high-maintenance and less profitable endeavor.

So what changes do banks need to make to be more competitive in the SME lending market?

In this new article from Moody’s Analytics, we explore tactics banks can learn from ground-breaking alternative lenders and present four broad strategies to help them stay ahead of the curve.

Read the full article here

For more information on how your bank can better serve your SME clients by adopting the right technology, register for our upcoming webinar with Moody’s Analytics, “Maximize Efficiency: Automated decisioning throughout the loan process” at 2:00 pm ET on Wednesday, October 4th.