InfoBytes Blog

FDIC, Census launch small business lending survey

On May 3, FDIC acting Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg and U.S. Census Bureau (Census) Director Robert L. Santos announced that approximately 2,000 U.S. banks of all sizes and from all geographic areas in the U.S. have been invited to participate in the 2022 Small Business Lending Survey (SBLS)—a nationally representative online survey regarding small business lending practices and volumes. According to the FDIC, banks are the most common source of external financing for small businesses, however “there is little high-quality data on this activity.” The last SBLS occurred in 2016 and the 2022 survey intends to provide further understanding about current bank lending. Sponsored by the FDIC and administered by Census, the SBLS, according to the announcement, “provides a comprehensive view of small business lending by banks and will significantly expand the FDIC’s and the public’s understanding of the impact banks have on the nation’s small businesses.” The selected banks include all FDIC-insured institutions with assets of $3 billion or more as well as a random sample of banks with assets of less than $3 billion. The survey responses will be confidential and anonymous and the FDIC will only report the aggregated results.

Bank Regulatory Federal Issues FDIC Census Bureau Small Business Lending