A new website is making it easier for small businesses to find banks that are likely to give them a loan. Banking Grades rates local, regional, and national banks elementary-school style (A, B, C, and D) for their proven ability to lend to small businesses. The online tool is the brainchild of small-biz financial advising firm MultiFunding and uses FDIC data to determine the percentage of each bank’s deposits issued as small-business loans; the higher the percentage, the higher the ranking. While the platform is helping business owners source for the right lender, it’s also fueled discussions as to whether bigger banks are active enough in small-business lending at a time when many small-business owners say they’re having trouble finding financing to grow their operations.How it works: Top-ranked “A” banks used one-quarter or more of their deposits for small-business loans. B-level banks used 10 percent to 25 percent—still higher than what MultiFunding cites as the 7.29 percent that the average American bank loans to small businesses. Users can search the online database by county, ZIP code, city and state, or bank name. For more information, visit www.multifunding.com/bank-search.
