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City National Bank in Los Angeles will provide $350 million in loans to minority- and women-owned small businesses as part of a community lending initiative, it announced Monday.
June 1 -
A community development venture in the District of Columbia supported by Citigroup, government officials and local financial institutions has partnered with loan marketplace Biz2Credit to facilitate loans to small businesses.
May 7 -
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finishes regulations dealing with mortgage data reporting, a similar set of requirements for small business loans is waiting in the wings.
August 28
Women who own small businesses are happier with their banking experiences than their male counterparts are, according to a study by J.D. Power released Thursday.
Women's overall banking satisfaction level was 766 on a 1,000-point scale, compared with 746 for men. The results came from a survey conducted this summer.
The U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study measures customer attitudes about product offerings, account managers, account information, problem resolution, credit services, fees and other factors.
JPMorgan Chase had the highest rankings in the West and Midwest, TD Bank finished highest in the Northeast and Citibank was tops in the South.
Satisfaction scores trended higher among customers who had trusted account managers, the study said. Overall satisfaction among business owners was 825 in those situations, but it plummeted to 636 when no bank officials established themselves as trusted advisers.
Women reported higher satisfaction than men in all scoring categories. The widest gaps were in product offerings, account activities, credit services and fees.
Seventy-three percent of female business owners had optimistic outlooks about their work, while only 69% of male business owners did. That may explain part of the difference in their satisfaction levels at the bank, J.D. Power noted in a news release.
About 9,000 small-business owners or financial decision-makers were surveyed between June and August. Women own 35% of small U.S. businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
