SBA

This week the Small Business Administration followed through with a controversial policy change by granting access to its flagship 7(a) program to three additional nonbank lenders. These new participants vowed to ramp up their small-business lending efforts.

Denver-based InBank will expand into Georgia and Arizona, part of a wider plan to seize market share and build what one executive called a top-tier SBA lender.

Critics complain a bill sponsored by the leaders of the Senate Small Business Committee would reinstate a moratorium on participation in the SBA's flagship 7(a) program by nondepository lenders. Supporters of the bill argue that widening the program could invite more fraud.

As it pushes the boundaries of its Midwestern footprint, the Columbus, Ohio-based bank is on pace to book more than 6,000 7(a) loans in SBA's 2023 fiscal year, the biggest total in seven years.

After the departure of a key Small Business Administration official, lawmakers from both parties are calling on the SBA's chief to delay rules that could open the agency's biggest lending program to more nonbanks — or even consider reversing the changes.

BayFirst Financial, which says it lost $1.6 million when a planned Small Business Administration loan sale to Signature fell through, plans to file a claim for the lost revenue with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Rep. Roger Williams, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, says Small Business Administration is considering allowing borrowers to self-certify eligibility for loans, a step some believe could lead to more fraud. The agency declined to say whether that is one of the changes it's considering.

The proposal to streamline the Small Business Administration's signature program and expand the number of available lending licenses would benefit underserved communities.

A 40-year-old limit of just 14 nondepository 7(a) lenders is set to expire May 12 despite concerns by lawmakers and opposition from banks and credit unions.

In its first three months as a bank, the Boca Raton, Florida-based NewtekOne doubled the size of its deposit base by relying almost exclusively on certificates.