Banks currently control 95% of the small business lending market. Now they are lobbying Congress to stop credit unions from cutting into the market.

 

At issue is S. 2231, the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Act, which would raise the cap on the amount that credit unions can loan small businesses from 12.25% of assets to 27.5%. Many credit unions are coming up against the current cap, which limits the opportunities of small businesses to receive necessary loans. This would probably reduce the banks’ share of small business loans to a mere 90%.

 

Many small businesses support the bill because they say banks have not been willing to help them with financing.

 

Supporters of the bill say its passage would free up credit unions to make up to $13 billion in new loans to small businesses in just the first year. The new lending could mean the creation of 140,000 new jobs, they say.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Senators: Ignore Bankers’ Bluster And Let Credit Unions Help Small Business (by Bill Cheney, Daily Caller)

Mark Udall Pushes the Senate to Consider his Credit Union Lending Bill (Senator Mark Udall)

Bankers Pressure Senate Leaders To Avoid Credit Union Bill (by Pete Kasperowicz, The Hill)