Banks: Credit Unions Are the Chief Nonbank Competitor for Small Business Loans

A survey on Small Business Lending by the Federal Deposit Corporation found that credit unions were the primary nonbank competitor to banks for small business loans.

According to survey responses, both small and large banks (52.3 and 55.0 percent) reported frequent competition with credit unions with regard to small business lending.

The report defined banks with less than $10 billion in assets as small, and banks with at least $10 billion in assets as large.

According to the report, small banks were more concerned than large banks about credit union competition.

Nearly one-third (34.1 percent) of small banks viewed credit unions as a top three competitor, compared with only 12.2 percent of large banks.

Among small banks, those with less than $250 million in assets were about twice as likely as those with $1 billion to $10 billion in assets to view credit unions as a top three competitor (39.0 percent compared with 19.1 percent).

Only 4.5 percent of small banks stated that a credit union was their number one competitor with respect to small business loans.

For banks that identify credit unions as their number one competitor, the top perceived advantages of credit unions dealt with pricing (85.1 percent) and, to a lesser extent, other elements of loan structure. The report noted that the credit union pricing advantage arises from their preferential tax status.

Read the report.