CircumFi
Insights
Notes from CircumFi on small business lending, credit operations, and the technology behind them.
- Record dollars, missing loans: 35 years of SBA 7(a) and 504 lending FY2025 set the 35-year record for combined 7(a) and 504 approved dollars — $45.09 billion, on 25,435 fewer loans than FY2007, whose loan-count record still stands. Four eras: the count-driven build, the crisis collapse, the big-loan decade, and the small-loan rebound.
- Rockland, not Westchester, led Hudson Valley SBA lending in FY2025 A county-by-county look at FY2025 SBA 7(a) approvals across the nine-county Hudson Valley: Rockland edges Westchester for the dollar lead, Orange posts the highest big-county average, and Westchester holds only 26.2 percent of regional dollars despite the deepest lender bench.
- Hudson Valley SBA lending in FY2025: 79 lenders, no dominant player SBA 7(a) lenders approved 956 loans for $354.3 million across the nine-county Hudson Valley in fiscal 2025, spread over 79 institutions running visibly different models. Who leads by dollars, who leads by count, and why the difference matters for community lenders.
- Who actually makes SBA microloans: 140 nonprofits, and an Indiana lender on top Every SBA microloan runs through a nonprofit intermediary. In FY2025 that meant 140 active lenders, 4,614 loans, and $74.5 million — led by Indiana's Bankable, which topped the dollar, growth, and FY2026 year-to-date boards at once.
- Two years of emergency, twenty years of normal: the SBA's pandemic ledger Six COVID-era programs approved $1.226 trillion across 22.1 million approvals — about twenty years of regular SBA lending at FY2025's pace. How that ledger reads nationally, in New York, and county by county across the Hudson Valley.
- SBA 7(a) lending grew 19% in FY2025 — led by small-loan specialists Approved 7(a) dollars rose 19.2% to $37.1 billion in FY2025 and loan approvals rose 11.0%, while the lender base held essentially flat. Who actually grew — in dollars and in loan counts — and what the growth patterns mean for community lenders.
- 7(a) lending passed its stimulus-era peak in FY2025 — microlending went the other way Approved 7(a) dollars reached $37.3 billion in FY2025, clearing the $36.5 billion FY2021 record that fee relief and enhanced guarantees built — this time without them. Microloan volume fell over the same two years, and that gap matters for the smallest borrowers.
- Bank Director: Why Does Small Business Lending Cost So Much? (opens external site) Bank Director examines why small business lending remains expensive for community banks, tracing much of the cost to process rather than credit risk. A concise framing of the operational side of the problem.
- Corporate Finance Institute: Debt Service Coverage Ratio (opens external site) A practical guide to the debt service coverage ratio — the formula, worked examples, and how lenders interpret it. Covers one of the most widely used repayment-capacity metrics in commercial and small business underwriting.
- CFPB Regulation Z, Appendix J: Annual Percentage Rate Computations for Closed-End Credit (opens external site) The official actuarial method and equations for computing APR on closed-end credit transactions under Regulation Z. The definitive technical reference for lenders building or checking APR calculations.
- CFPB: Small Business Lending Rule (Section 1071) (opens external site) The CFPB's official page for the Section 1071 small business lending data-collection rule, including its current status and compliance dates. The primary source for lenders tracking reporting obligations.
- CFPB: Shining a Light on Small Business Lending (opens external site) The CFPB's overview of its small business lending work and why Congress directed it to collect small business credit application data. Background for lenders following the Section 1071 data-collection effort.
- Experian: The Difference Between VantageScore and FICO Scores (opens external site) Experian's explainer on how VantageScore and FICO scoring models differ in data requirements, score ranges, and calculation. Useful background for lenders that rely on personal credit scores in small business underwriting.
- FDIC: 2024 Small Business Lending Survey (opens external site) The FDIC's nationally representative survey of how banks approve, underwrite, and compete for small business loans. A baseline reference on how small business lending actually operates across the industry.
- FDIC Consumer Resource Center: Small Business Topics (opens external site) The FDIC's collection of small business resources covering credit, banking relationships, and financing basics. A reference lenders can point borrowers to for neutral, regulator-produced guidance.
- Federal Reserve: Is Lending Distance Really Changing? Distance Dynamics and Loan Composition in Small Business Lending (opens external site) Federal Reserve research on how the distance between banks and their small business borrowers has shifted, and what that means for loan composition. Relevant to lenders weighing relationship-based versus remote origination models.
- Federal Reserve Banks: Small Business Credit Survey (opens external site) The Federal Reserve Banks' recurring survey of small firms on credit demand, application outcomes, and financing sources. A regular source of borrower-side data for anyone lending to small businesses.
- Federal Reserve: Uncertain Terms — What Small Business Borrowers Find When Browsing Online Lender Websites (opens external site) Federal Reserve researchers reviewed online lender websites to document what prospective small business borrowers actually encounter when comparing credit products. Useful context on cost disclosure and comparison shopping in the online lending market.
- FinRegLab: Cash-Flow Data in Underwriting Small Business Loans (opens external site) FinRegLab's empirical research on using cash-flow data to underwrite small business credit, including findings on how it predicts loan performance relative to traditional credit scores.
- Fintech Takes: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cash Flow Underwriting (opens external site) A plain-language explainer of cash flow underwriting — what it is, where the data comes from, and how lenders put it to work. A useful primer on a technique increasingly relevant to small business credit decisions.
- Honeycomb Credit: Why Are Merchant Cash Advances So Expensive? (opens external site) A walkthrough of merchant cash advance pricing, showing how factor rates and daily repayment translate into effective APRs far above quoted costs. Helpful context for lenders whose borrowers are comparing offers against MCA products.
- New York State CDFI Coalition: NYS CDFI Directory (opens external site) The New York State CDFI Coalition's directory of community development financial institutions operating across the state. A starting point for finding CDFI lenders, partners, and referral options in New York.
- Oliver Wyman: Great Expectations — Improving the Loan Application Process for Small Business Borrowers (opens external site) Survey research on how small business owners experience the borrowing process, finding the application itself is a major pain point. Data on where lenders lose borrowers between initial interest and a closed loan.
- Porte Brown: How Predatory Lenders Lay Traps for Unwary Business Owners (opens external site) An accounting firm's rundown of common predatory lending tactics aimed at small business owners, from confession-of-judgment clauses to opaque pricing. Useful for lenders and advisors helping borrowers recognize warning signs.
- SBA Office of Advocacy: Small Business Lending in the United States, 2020 (opens external site) The Office of Advocacy's edition of its long-running report on bank small business lending, covering loan volumes, lender size classes, and market trends. A reference dataset for understanding the structure of the U.S. small business lending market.
- SBA: Lender Reports (opens external site) The SBA's hub for lender reports, including 7(a) and 504 lending activity data. A primary source for tracking SBA loan volume by program.
- Responsible Business Lending Coalition: Small Business Borrowers' Bill of Rights (opens external site) A cross-sector standard defining six rights for small business borrowers, including transparent pricing and non-abusive products. Signed by lenders, brokers, and advocacy organizations as a benchmark for responsible lending practices.
- Totality: KPI Best Practices for Loan Servicers (opens external site) An overview of key performance indicators for loan servicing operations and how to use them to manage portfolio health. Useful for lenders formalizing servicing metrics beyond delinquency rates.