Microloans up, big loans down for small businesses this year - Business First of Columbus:

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A new report found that the total value of smalo business loans outstanding increased by 4 percentg in the 12 months that ended inJune 2008, down from the previoue year’s increase of 8 percent. Theswe numbers are for small business loans asa whole, not just SBA The number of business loans of less than $100,00o0 jumped by nearly 16 percent, as large lenderd concentrated on credit according to the study. By contrast, the numberd of business loans inthe $100,000 to $1 million range fell by more than 23 percent. The reporft used call reports submitted by banks as well as Communith ReinvestmentAct data. Business loanss of less than $1 million were considered to be smallpbusiness loans.
Based on call reportt data, the top five small business lenders in June 2008 wereAmericam Express, Capital One, Regions Financial Synovus Financial Corp. and First Citize Bancshares Inc. “In the curren financial climate, it’s especiall critical for small firms to know which bankas and financial institutions have been the most likely to make smalll andmicrobusiness loans,” said economist Victorias Williams, a co-author of the study.
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