FDIC Conducts Survey on Banks' Small Business Lending Practices

FDIC CFPB

On June 28, the FDIC announced that it is conducting a survey to collect information on banks’ small business lending practices. Selected at random, approximately 2,000 FDIC-insured banks will participate in the web-based small dollar lending survey. Intended to provide insight into various aspects of small business lending, the survey will collect data related to: (i) the general characteristics of banks’ small business borrowers; (ii) the types of credit offered to small businesses; (iii) commercial lending and its relative importance for different-sized banks and business models; (iv) geographical location, collecting data for banks in urban and rural communities; and (v) market areas for small business lending and perceived competition. In addition, the survey contains questions related to consumer transaction accounts, responding to a Congressional mandate to “learn more about bank efforts to bring unbanked individuals into the conventional finance system.” Institutions selected to participate in the survey received a letter from the FDIC in late June with directions on how to proceed. The U.S. Census Bureau is administering the survey on behalf of the FDIC. It is unclear how this survey relates to the CFPB’s forthcoming rulemaking on small business lending.