Match Made In Heaven: SBA Tool Connects Businesses with Lenders

When it comes to getting a PPP loan or financing growth, the Small Business Administration typically recommends that you start with a lending institution with an established relationship. Your character, credit, and ability to repay the loan are primary items a lender will look for when deciding whether or not to provide you with a loan. Working with a lender who already knows you are helpful as you have a good idea of where you stand regarding those items and can help make the process go faster and smoother.

But what happens when you don't have the type of established relationship with a lender? What if your lender doesn't handle the kind of loans you're looking for? (PPP or startup, for example) Where can you do to find lenders who might be interested in working with your business?

Get Matched with the Perfect Lender

Consider using SBA's Lender Match (the SBA's online referral tool) connecting small business owners with participating SBA lenders. Lender Match brings small business owners to SBA lenders to help increase access to Capital. This free tool allows business owners to fill out a quick online form without registering and then connects them with lenders within 48 hours. Lender Match is an upgrade from the SBA's previous attempt to a matching system (Leveraging Information and Networks to access Capital). Now there are fewer, but more relevant questions, allowing lenders to better filter their referrals, resulting in more possible matches.

Lenders can also now optimize their search criteria to identify specific types of borrower referrals for particular types of businesses or specialized financing.

While using Lender Match doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get matched or offered a loan, it’s a great tool to help small businesses find potential lenders. Lender Match also guides prospective lenders on how to be better prepared for the loan application process. If a lender follows up with you, you can put your best foot forward in applying for financing.

You can find more tips on PPP loans and growing your small business at sba.gov.

If you currently have a PPP loan and are interested in applying for forgiveness - we can help you with that. Visit our PPP forgiveness page to learn more.