Small business lending

In an environment of persistent economic unease, banks have a unique opportunity to help small businesses, Sekou Kaalund, U.S. Bank's head of branch and small business banking, said at American Banker's 2025 Small Business Banking conference.

A number of banks experienced major increases in 7(a) lending activity during SBA's recently completed fiscal year, as program-wide loan volume topped $37 billion for the first time.

BayFirst Financial in St. Petersburg shuttered a national small-dollar 7(a) loan program in August. Now the $2.4 billion institution, which has been one of the nation's most active SBA lenders over the past decade, is making a clean break from the business.

A Small Business Administration policy enacted during the second Trump administration blocks not only people who are in the country illegally, but also legal temporary residents and even some U.S. citizens, from accessing government-guaranteed loans.

Fintechs are rolling out business financing tools that are packaged as buy now/pay later and earned wage access in the hopes of capturing momentum from the budding consumer finance industries.

The agency says the move, which it made pursuant to a Trump directive, reverses Obama-era policies and requires banks to restore access to customers allegedly cut off for political or ideological reasons.

U.S. Bank's merchant acquiring unit has expanded its partnership with embedded finance fintech Liberis to offer its small business clients working capital loans.The two companies previously offered loans in the U.K., Ireland and Poland.

Northeast Bank and its fintech lending partner Newity have engineered a surge in 7(a) loans that has helped the Portland, Maine-based bank boost profits as tightened regulatory standards made the loans harder to get.

A coalition of consumer groups sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and acting Director Russell Vought for refusing to implement a statutorily mandated small-business data collection rule that is already tied up in litigation.

A number of fintechs emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a flurry of Paycheck Protection Program loan applications inundated banks. Now, the government is alleging many of them facilitated or committed fraud.