Small and Micro Business Lending in the United States, 2004

Foreword
I am pleased to provide the latest edition of the Office of Advocacy’s annual study of bank lending to
small and micro businesses. The report covers both small business lending (loans of less than $1
million) and micro business lending (loans of less than $100,000) for all reporting banks and for
multibillion-dollar bank holding companies for the 2003-2004 period. The source information consists
of two types of data reported by banks to their regulating agencies—call reports for June 2004 and the
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) reports for year 2003.

The report provides data on the top banks lending to small businesses in each state. Advocacy’s
website contains additional data listing the lending activity of all banks in the 50 states and the District
of Columbia. The report is useful to both small businesses seeking loans and banks comparing
themselves to their competition. I encourage readers to use this as a resource—and I congratulate the
banks that are doing a good job of meeting the need for capital in the small business community.

The lending studies may also be viewed on the Office of Advocacy’s homepage,
www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html. If you have questions or comments, write to the Office of
Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, Mail Code 3112, 409 Third St., S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20416, or fax (202) 205-6928. Technical questions may be addressed to Dr. Charles Ou or Ms.
Victoria Williams, at (202) 205-6530 or by e-mail: charles.ou@sba.gov or victoria.williams@sba.gov.
We welcome your comments and suggestions.


Thomas M. Sullivan
Chief Counsel for Advocacy


Contents

Introduction 1

Part One: Developments in Small and Micro Business Lending 2
I. Findings from the June 2003-June 2004 Call Reports 2
A. Small Business Loans Outstanding from All Reporting Banks 2
B. Total Micro Business Loans Outstanding in the United States 2
C. Small and Micro Business Loans Outstanding from Multibillion-Dollar Banks and BHCs 4

II. Findings from Reports by CRA Reporting Banks for 2003 6
A. Small Business Lending by CRA Reporting Banks and BHCs 6
B. Micro Business Lending by CRA Reporting Banks and BHCs 6
Part Two: Directory of Top-ranking U.S. Small and Micro Business Lenders 9
Appendix: Definitions, Ranking Methodology, and Table Descriptions 12
Table Descriptions 14

Data Tables Following page 20


List of Text Tables

Table A. Dollar Amount and Number of Small Business Loans, June 2002 through June 2004, by
Loan Size, 3
Table B. Percent Change in the Dollar Amount of Business Loans by Loan Size, June 1997-June
2004, 3
Table C. Percent Change in the Number of Small Business Loans by Loan Size, June 1997-June
2004, 4
Table D. Share of Total Assets and Business Loans by Size of All Banks and Bank Holding
Companies in the U.S., June 2002-June 2004, 5
Table E. Comparison of Assets and Business Loans Outstanding for All Banks as Reported in Call
Reports and by CRA Reporting Banks, 7
Table F. Amount and Number of Loans made by CRA Reporting Banks in 2002 and 2003, 8
List of Data Tables (following page 19)
Note: An expanded version of Table 3A showing data for all banks in the 50 states and the District of
Columbia is available on Advocacy’s website, www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.
Table 1A. Small Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using Call
Report Data, June 2004, 1
Table 1B. Micro Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using Call
Report Data, June 2004, 3
Table 2A. Small Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using CRA
Data, 2003, 5
Table 2B. Micro Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using CRA
Data, 2003, 7
Table 3A. Banks’ Small Business Lending by State Using Call Report Data, June 2004, 9
Table 3B. Banks’ Micro Business Lending by State Using Call Report Data, June 2004, 19
Table 4A. Top Small Business Lenders by State Using CRA Data, 2003, 29
Table 4B. Top Micro Business Lenders by State Using CRA Data, 2003, 53
Table 5. Number of Reporting Banks by Bank Asset Size and by State, 1994-2004, 80


Introduction

Access to credit is vital for small business survival. The most important institutional supplier of credit
to small firms is the commercial banking system, according to the 1998 Survey of Small Business
Finances (SSBF). Of a total of $700 billion in small business credit outstanding from all credit sources
at the end of 1998, commercial banks supplied 57 percent, compared with 12 percent supplied through
owners’ loans and 11 percent from finance companies.1
Critical to the health and growth of a small business is knowledge of how banks are meeting small firm
credit needs and which banks are investing in small businesses. Such information helps small
businesses save precious time and shop efficiently for credit. It also helps banks to know about the
competition in the markets in which they participate.
This annual edition of Small Business and Micro Business Lending in the United States provides
current data on small and micro business loans to small firms and on the banks that serve them. The
study continues to combine studies on both small business and micro business lending to provide a
brief review of these lending activities in 2003-2004. The study is based on two types of data reported
by banks to their regulating agencies—the call reports for June 2004 and the Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA) reports for 2003. Data are available only for the size of the loan and not for the size of the
business. As such, the following definitions are used:
• Small business loans are defined as business loans under $1 million.
• Micro business loans are defined as business loans under $100,000.
Part One discusses developments in small and micro business lending activities by commercial banks
in the United States. The first section discusses developments apparent in the call report data; the
second section discusses developments based on the CRA database.
Part Two provides directories of the top small and micro business lenders in the states using both the
call report and CRA data. For the reader’s convenience, national tables for multibillion-dollar banks
and bank holding companies (BHCs) are presented before state tables for all banks, not because BHCs
are more important in small business lending, but because the tables for them are shorter.
While these two databases have limitations as indicators of both the supply of loans from commercial
banks and the small business demand for bank loans, their usefulness cannot be denied—they are the
only publicly available sources of information on the small business lending activities of individual
banks.

Accessing the Study

All editions of Advocacy lending studies are on the Internet at
www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html. Paper and microfiche copies are also available for purchase
from the National Technical Information Service, telephone (703) 487-4650.

Suggestions

Send written comments or suggestions to the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration,
Mail Code 3112, 409 Third St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20416, or by fax to (202) 205-6928. Technical
questions may be addressed to Dr. Charles Ou or Ms. Victoria Williams, at (202) 205-6530 or by
email: charles.ou@sba.gov or victoria.williams@sba.gov.

Part One: Developments in Small and Micro Business Lending

I. Findings from the June 2003-June 2004 Call Reports

A. Small Business Loans Outstanding from All Reporting Banks
Borrowing from banks continued to recover from the previous year, increasing moderately. Overall,
small business loans (under $1 million) by commercial banks showed moderate increases between
June 2003 and June 2004. The rate of growth in the dollar amount of all small business loans
outstanding increased 5.5 percent, from $495 billion in June 2003 to $522 billion in June 2004. By
comparison, small business loans grew by 2.3 percent from June 2002 to June 2003 (see Tables A, B,
and C). The increase was comparable to the annual increases in borrowing between June 2000 and
June 2002. The increases came primarily from the larger small business loans ($100,000 to $1
million). Medium-sized small business loans ($100,000 to $250,000) and large small business loans
($250,000 to $1 million) increased 4.95 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively (Table B). The number of
these loans also increased 4.95 and 8.5 percent, respectively, during this period (Table C). The value
of all business loans also increased more than in the previous year, from $1.32 trillion to $1.38 trillion,
up 4.2 percent. Corporate borrowing in loan sizes over $1 million resumed, but increased at lower rates
than borrowing from alternate sources in the public credit markets. As in the previous year, statistics
for the smallest loans told conflicting stories, with the slight decline in loans outstanding shown in the
Call report contradicted by the increased volume of lending activities shown in the CRA data.
B. Total Micro Business Loans Outstanding in the United States

Changes in the value and the number of the smallest size loans (under $100,000) remain difficult to
interpret because of continued efforts by major small business credit card issuers to consolidate their
data reporting. Further complicating interpretation are the merger and acquisition activities of credit
card institutions, as well as credit card operations among commercial banks, federal saving banks, and
commercial finance companies.2 During 2003-2004, the number and the dollar amounts of loans under
$100,000 declined further, although at lower rates than in the previous year. The number of these
smallest business loans outstanding declined from 14.1 million to 13.6 million, a 3.6 percent drop; the
value declined from $125.7 billion to $125.3 billion in June 2004, a decline of 0.31 percent (Tables B
and C). These declines appear, again, to be an accounting phenomenon.3 Moreover, it appears that
most major small business credit card lenders continued to promote small business credit cards and
reported continued increases in the number and dollar amounts of the smallest loans in the CRA report
for loan activities in 2003.4 Statistics from the 2003 CRA study indicated that the rates of increase in
the number and dollar amounts of loans made in 2003 were comparable for the smallest loans (under
$100,000) and medium-sized loans ($100,000 to under $1 million).5

C. Small and Micro Business Loans Outstanding from Multibillion-Dollar Banks and BHCs
Bank consolidations continued during June 2003 and June 2004 as indicated by the large increases in
total domestic assets, in excess of 20 percent growth, for several large bank holding companies. The
increasing importance of large banking institutions in the U.S. banking sector is indicated in Table D.6
The number of multibillion dollar banks and bank holding companies (with total domestic assets or
more than $10 billion) increased from 67 to 72 by June 2004. They accounted for 75.3 percent of total
banking assets and 63 percent of total business loans. However, the importance of these entities in the
small business loan markets varied. In the market for loans under $100,000, their importance continued
to increase, accounting for 50 percent of the market in value and 67 percent in the number of loans in
June 2004, as compared with 48 percent and 64 percent, respectively, in June 2003. This trend
confirms the continued consolidation in the small business credit card market.

In the market for loans between $100,000 and $1 million, large banks remained passive in promoting
business. Their share in this market remained almost unchanged, in both amount and number of loans,
in spite of the increased asset share of these banks from June 2003 to June 2004. This poses the
question of whether very large banks are moving away from higher-cost small business lending to
lower-cost micro business credit card-credit line lending. It will be important to continue monitoring
this development as banking concentration continues.7


II. Findings from Reports by CRA Reporting Banks for 2003

A. Small Business Lending by CRA Reporting Banks and BHCs
CRA data provide information on the location of loans made by a bank or a BHC during a certain time
period, for example, from January 1 through December 31 of the year. This section provides a profile
of the overall activities in small business lending by large banks and BHCs reporting under the CRA
program in 2003.8 A comparison of the coverage of reporting institutions in the call reports (for all
banks) and in the CRA reporting banks appears in Table E; these banks and bank holding companies
accounted for 88 percent of total domestic assets and some 65 percent to 75 percent of small business
lending in the U.S. banking industry.

In 2003, a total of $248.0 billion in small business loans under $1 million were extended by 998 CRAreporting
banks and bank holding companies, compared with $227.5 billion in 2002 (Table F)
extended by 905 entities.9 The CRA data confirm the findings in the call report data of the importance
of multibillion-dollar banks and bank holding companies in the market for the smallest loans, and also
their declining share of the larger small business loans ($100,000-$1 million).10

B. Micro Business Lending by CRA Reporting Banks and BHCs
Large banks and bank holding companies made 5.6 million micro business loans valued at $78 billion
in 2003, compared with 5.3 million loans valued at $73 billion in 2002. Total domestic assets for these
banks increased from $5.80 trillion for 905 entities in June 2003 to $6.25 trillion for 998 banks and
bank holding companies. These banks accounted for 67.1 percent of the dollar amount and 73.6
percent of the number of micro business loans outstanding in June 2004, compared with 69.4 percent
of the dollar amount and 73.1 percent of the number in June 2003 (Table E).

Part Two: Directory of Top-ranking U.S. Small and Micro Business Lenders

Small business lending and borrowing are mostly local in nature: both the borrowers and the lending
offices are located in the same community or in communities nearby. In an effort to provide
information that will help small businesses shop more efficiently for credit and let banks know about
their competitors in small business lending, the Office of Advocacy prepares a directory of small and
micro business lenders. The business lending performance of individual banks and bank holding
companies is ranked for the national market and in each state. Tables 1A through through 2B rank
multibillion banks and bank holding companies in the national market, while Table 3A through Table
4B rank them in individual states. Information for all reporting banks (Table 3A) is available at the
Advocacy website, www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.

Table 1A. Small Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Based on Call Report
Data, June 2004
Table 1A ranks the small business lending levels of the 72 banks and bank holding companies with
total domestic assets in excess of $10 billion each.11 Each bank is ranked from 1 to 70, with two banks
not ranked, on each of four variables, which then are totaled and re-ranked from 1 to 70.
The top five small business lenders in June 2004, based on call report data, are: American Express
Centurion Bank; Regions Financial Corporation (3rd in 2003); BB&T Corporation (2nd in 2003);
Synovus Financial Corp (4th in 2003); and First Citizens Bancshares (5th in 2003) The top five banks
remain the same from the previous year.

Table 1B. Micro Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using Call Report Data,
June 2004
Table 1B ranks the micro business lending of the 72 banks and bank holding companies with total
domestic assets in excess of $10 billion each.12 Each bank is ranked from 1 to 67 on each of four
variables, which then are totaled and re-ranked from 1 to 67; five banks and bank holding companies
are not ranked because of missing data. The top five lenders as of June 2004 are: American Express
Centurion; Citigroup, Inc. (2nd in 2003); BNA Corporation (3rd in 2003); Wells Fargo (4th in 2003);
and BB&T Corporation (5th in 2003).13

Table 2A. Small Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using CRA Data, 2003
Table 2A ranks large banks and bank holding companies’ small business lending using CRA data.
Information from call reports was employed in combination with the CRA data to perform the fourvariable
ranking. As in the previous studies, data covering the members of a BHC were first
consolidated to generate estimates for the BHC owning company. Since CRA data provide locationspecific
information for a bank’s small business lending, information on the number of states (and
territories) in which the bank or BHC has lending operations is also provided. Because of the
importance of small business credit card promotion by large banks and large BHCs, large credit card
banks have been included in the ranking since 2002.14

The five top small business lenders for 2003, using CRA data, are American Express Centurion Bank;
Regions Financial Corporation (2nd in 2002); BB&T (3rd in 2002); Synovus Financial Corporation (4th
in 2002); and MBNA Corporation (6th in 2002).

Table 2B. Micro Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using CRA Data, 2003
Table 2B ranks large banks’ micro business lending using CRA data. Information from call reports
was employed in combination with the CRA data to perform the four-variable ranking. As in the
previous studies, data from the members of a BHC were first consolidated to generate estimates for the
BHC owning company. CRA location-specific information on banks’ small business lending was the
source for the data on the number of states in which the bank has substantial lending operations.
Because of the importance of small business credit card promotion by large banks and BHCs, large
credit card banks such as American Express and MBNA are included in the ranking since 2002.15
The five top small business lenders for 2003, using CRA data, are American Express Centurion Bank;
MBNA Corporation (3rd in 2002); Citigroup, Inc. (2nd in 2002); Wells Fargo (4th in 2002); and BB&T
Corporation (5th in 2002).16

Table 3A. Banks’ Small Business Lending by State Using Call Report Data, June 2004
Table 3A provides a list of the top banks lending to small businesses in individual states. The list
includes the top 10 banks or the top 10 percent, whichever number is smaller. (Ties may increase the
number.) The small business lending performance of a bank in a given state is measured on four
criteria. The four rankings were summed to create a score for the small business lending activities of
individual banks. A bank’s total score is the sum of the four individual decile rankings multiplied by
2.5. A complete ranking of all banks in each state is provided on the Advocacy website,
www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.

Note again that because the call report data are keyed to the bank headquarters location rather than the
location of the lending activity, a significant amount of lending activity by large banks will not appear
in the states where the activity occurs.


Table 3B. Banks’ Micro Business Lending by State Using Call Report Data, June 2004
Table 3B provides a list of banks making micro business loans (loans under $100,000) in individual
states. The list includes the top 10 banks or the top 10 percent, whichever number is smaller. (Ties may
increase the number.) The micro business lending performance of a bank in a given state is measured
on four criteria. The four rankings were summed to create a score for the micro business lending
activities of individual banks. A bank’s total score is the sum of the four individual decile rankings
multiplied by 2.5.

Table 4A. Top Small Business Lenders by State Using CRA Data, 2003
State lending information for large banks and BHCs is best captured in the CRA database. Table 4A
provides a list of top small business lenders in a given state using CRA data. The list includes banks
and BHCs with small business lending in a given state in excess of $50 million in 2003. Data for the
members of a BHC were consolidated first to generate estimates for the owning BHCs. Consolidated
estimates are then derived for each bank/BHC in each state. Rankings are based solely on the dollar
amount of small business lending (loans under $1 million) in this table because of the difficulty of
generating two ratio variables for these banks and BHCs by state. Clearly, large banks and BHCs have
an important role in the small business loan markets in many states.
Table 4B. Top Micro Business Lenders by State Using CRA Data, 2003

Table 4B provides a list of top micro business lenders in a given state using CRA data. The list
includes banks and BHCs with micro business lending in a given state in excess of $10 million in
2003. Again, rankings are based solely on the dollar amount of micro business lending (loans under
$100,000) in this table for the reasons discussed above.

Appendix: Definitions, Ranking Methodology, and Table Descriptions
Definitions

Call Report Data. Call reports, officially known as Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income,
are quarterly reports filed by financial institutions with their appropriate bank regulators. The call
reports provide detailed information on the current status of a financial institution—end-of-the-quarter
balance sheet items (such as assets, loans, deposits, and net worth) and the income and expenses in the
income statement. Section 122 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of
1991 requires financial institutions to report the number and amount of small business loans annually.
This information is provided in the quarterly report issued each June. For this reason, call report data is
compiled over the year running from July 2003 to June 2004.

The call reports on which Tables 1 and 3 of this study are based provide various bank data, including
the number and dollar amount of loans outstanding by loan size for business loans of less than $1
million. Asset size is that of the reporting bank, not the owning BHC.

Community Reinvestment Act Data. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted in 1977, is
designed to encourage banks to meet the credit needs of the local communities from which they obtain
deposited funds. In 1994 the federal banking supervisory agencies revised the regulations
implementing the CRA. The revisions included a requirement that banks report data on small business
lending by census tract. CRA data for small business loans became available for public use in 1997.
To minimize the paperwork burden on small banks, only those above a certain threshold are required
to provide this data. Hence, only banks with assets over $250 million or any member banks of a bank
holding company (BHC) with assets over $1 billion provide this information. In effect, less than 20
percent of banks are required to file CRA reports, but these banks make some two-thirds of the loans to
small businesses.

The CRA data in this report contain information on lending to small businesses for the calendar year
2003. The lending information is classified by the borrower’s location, rather than the location of the
bank headquarters, as is the case in the call reports. In addition, whereas call reports provide data on
the number of loans outstanding as of June 30 or the stock of loans, CRA data show all the loans made
in the calendar year, or the flow of loans. And whereas call reports provide information on all
commercial banks, CRA data cover only the larger banks.

For bank holding companies, only consolidated CRA information is reported. Total small business
lending in the state by the BHC is then derived for the state lending statistics and listed under the name
of the ultimate lending bank or BHC.
To reiterate, the CRA data show:
• Loans made in a calendar year, not the outstanding loans as of June of the year as
shown in the call reports.
• Data only for banks with more than $250 million in assets and all member banks of
holding companies with more than $1 billion in assets (whereas the call reports cover
all commercial banks).
Call report and CRA data tell only a part of the story about lending to small business, namely the
commercial banking part. Small businesses certainly have access to other sources of credit, such as
their suppliers, finance companies, family and friends. Additionally, some lending information may not
be reported in call reports or CRA data, or may not be discernible as small business financing. For
example:

• Banks may provide lines of credit to small firms. If the line of credit is not used, it will
not be reported as a loan.
• Banks may issue consumer credit cards or other forms of consumer credit to small
businesses for working capital (e.g., to buy office equipment). Banks may report these
as either small business or consumer loans.
• Loans to small businesses are often made in the form of a second mortgage on the
business owner’s home and/or personal lines of credit.
• Small business owners may use their personal credit cards to finance their businesses.
Ranking Methodology

When possible, four variables were used to create a total score for the small business lending activities
of individual banks: (1) the ratio of small business loans to total assets, (2) the ratio of small business
loans to total business loans, (3) the dollar value of small business loans, and (4) the number of small
business loans. The total ranking summarizes the four individual scores. Small banks tend to score
higher in some categories than larger banks, and vice versa. For example, smaller banks have a higher
percentage of total assets in small business loans, but larger banks lead in the sheer number and value
of small loans. Using two ratio variables and two value variables allows a more balanced measure of
lending performance by banks of different sizes.17

For large banks and BHCs in the call reports (Tables 1A and 1B), simple rankings from 1 and up were
performed for each of the four variables first, with “1” for the top ranking. The four individual
rankings were summed and re-ranked from 1 and up again for the total rank. For banks using CRA
data (Tables 2A and 2B), ratio information was retrieved from call report data and used in combination
with information from the CRA to perform Advocacy’s four-variable scheme for ranking. Again,
simple rankings were performed and summed to obtain total rankings.

To rank lending by all banks in a state based on call report data (Tables 3A and 3B), a decile ranking is
used instead of a simple ranking. This is justified because of a much larger number of banks in a given
state.The decile ranking is a measure of where the individual bank falls in the distribution of all banks
within a state for any given variable. Decile rankings range from 1 to 10. Banks in the top 10 percent
of all banks in the state receive the maximum score of 10; banks in the lowest 10 percent receive a
score of 1. Banks that do not lend to small businesses (loans under $1 million) receive a 0. Four top
scores will sum to 40. To make the top score total 100 rather than 40, each score is multiplied by 2.5.
For state lending using the CRA data (Tables 4A and 4B), banks were listed in order of the dollar
amount of small business loans made in each state in the year. Large institutions therefore appear at the
top.


Table Descriptions
Table 1A. Small Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using Call Report
Data, June 2004
This table uses call report data to rank the small business lending of the large BHCs on the basis of
four criteria that measure the small business lending emphasis in a bank’s loan portfolio. Small
business loans (SBLs) are defined as loans under $1 million.
1. Overall Ranking (Total Rank). Summary small business lending rankings of BHCs with
respect to loans under $1 million. A simple ranking of 1 and up is made for each criterion and
the total rank derived from the sum of the four rankings from data found in columns 2-5.
2. Ratio of Small Business Loans to Total Assets (LSBL/TA). The ratio of the dollar value of
small business loans under $1 million to total bank assets for each bank holding company. For
the 72 large bank/BHCs, the ratios of small business loans to total assets ranged from near 0
percent to a high of 0.427 (for American Express Centurion).
3. Ratio of Small Business Loans to Total Business Loans (LSBL/TBL). For the 72 large
banks and BHCs, the ratios of the value of small business lending to total business lending
ranged from near 0 percent to 1.00 percent (for American Express Centurion).
4. Total Dollar Amount of Small Business Lending by the BHC (LSBL$). The total dollar
amount (in thousands) of small business loans of less than $1 million.
5. Total Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#). The number of small business loans of less
than $1 million.
6. Bank/BHC Asset Size Class (Bnk. Size). Asset size class of the bank/BHC:
• $10 billion to under $50 billion ($10B–$50B)
• $50 billion and over (>$50B)
7. Total Dollar Amount of Micro Business Loans (SSBL$). Similar to column 4, but for loans
of less than $100,000, in thousands of dollars.
8. Total Number of Micro Business Loans (SSBL#). Similar to column 5, but for loans of less
than $100,000.
9. Total Dollar Amount of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)$ ). Similar to column
4, but for loans between $100,000 and $ 1million, in thousands of dollars.
10. Total Number of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)# ). Similar to column 5, but
for loans between $100,000 and $1 million.
11. Credit Card Loans to Total Assets (CRD/TA). The ratio of the dollar value of credit card
loans to total assets.
Table 1B: Micro Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using Call
Report Data, June 2004
This table uses call report data to rank the micro business lending of the large BHCs on the basis of
four criteria that measure the micro business lending emphasis in a bank’s loan portfolio. Micro
business loans (SSBLs) are defined as loans under $100,000.
15
1. Overall Ranking (Total Rank). Summary micro business lending rankings of banks and
BHCs with respect to loans under $100,000. A simple ranking of 1 and up is made first and the
total rank is derived from the sum of four rankings from data found in columns 2 through 5.
2. Ratio of Micro Business Loans to Total Assets (SSBL/TA). The ratio of the dollar value of
micro business loans under $100,000 to total bank assets for each bank holding company. For
the 72 large BHCs, the ratios of micro business loans to total assets ranged from near 0 percent
to 0.427 (for American Express Centurion).
3. Ratio of Micro Business Loans to Total Business Loans (SSBL/TBL). For the 72 large
BHCs, the ratios of the value of micro business lending to total business lending ranged from
near 0 percent to 1.000 percent (for American Express Centurion because of the dominance of
business credit cards and small credit lines in the bank’s business loans).
4. Total Dollar Amount of Micro Business Lending by the Bank/BHC (SSBL$). The total
dollar amount (in thousands) of micro business loans of less than $100,000.
5. Total Number of Micro Business Loans (SSBL#). The number of micro business loans of
less than $100,000.
6. Bank/BHC Asset Size Class (Bk. Size). Asset size class of the bank/BHC:
• $10 billion to under $50 billion ($10B–$50B)
• $50 billion and over (>$50B)
7. Total Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans (LSBL$). Similar to column 4, but for loans
of less than $1 million, in thousands of dollars.
8. Total Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#). Similar to column 5, but for loans of less
than $1 million.
9. Total Dollar Amount of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)$ ). Similar to column
4, but for loans between $100,000 and $1 million, in thousands of dollars.
10. Total Number of Large-SizeSmall Business Loans (LSBL(2)# ). Similar to column 5, but
for loans between $100,000 and $1 million.
11. Credit Card Loans to Total Assets (CRD/TA). The ratio of the dollar value of credit card
loans to total assets.
Table 2A: Small Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs Using CRA Data, 2003
Table 2A uses both CRA and call report data to rank-order the 63 largest banks and BHCs on the basis
of four criteria that measure the small business lending performance for a bank. Two ratio variables
were derived from the call reports while the two value variables are from the CRA data.
1. Total Rank. Summary “small business performance” rankings of BHCs with respect to loans
under $1 million. A simple ranking of 1 through 63 for each of the four variables is performed
first and the sum of the four scores is used to derive the total rank. The four criteria used are
described in this table in columns 2 through 5.
2. The Ratio of Small Business Loans to Total Assets (LSBL/TA). This column shows the ratio
of small business loans (<$1 million) to total assets for each bank. A high ratio indicates a
bank’s willingness to place a large portion of its assets in small business lending.
16
3. The Ratio of the Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans to Total Business Loans
(LSBL/TBL). The ratio of small business loans (<$1 million) to total business loans for each
bank. Banks that make business loans predominantly to small firms will rank high in this
category
4. Total Dollar Amount of Small Business Lending by the Bank (LSBL$). The total dollar
amount (in thousands) of small business loans of less than $1 million.
5. Total Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#). The number of small business loans of less
than $1 million.
6. No. of States w/ Loans. The number of states (and territories) where the bank extended small
business loans.
7. Bank/BHC Asset Size Class (Bk. Size). Asset size class of the bank/BHC:
• $10 billion to under $50 billion ($10B–$50B)
• $50 billion and over (>$50B)
8. Total Dollar Amount of Micro Business Loans under $100,000 by the Bank (SSBL$).
Similar to column 4, but for loans of less than $100,000, in thousands of dollars.
9. Total Number of Micro Business Loans under $100,000 by the BHC (SSBL#). Similar to
column 5, but for loans of less than $100,000.
Table 2B: Micro Business Lending of Large Banks and BHCs in the U.S. Using CRA Data,
2003
Table 2B uses both CRA and call report data to rank order 63 large BHCs on the basis of four criteria
that measure the micro business lending performance for a BHC. Two ratio variables were derived
from the call reports.
1. Total Rank. Summary “micro business performance” rankings of BHCs with respect to loans
under $1 million. A simple ranking of 1 through 63 for each of the four variables is performed
first and the sum of the four scores is used to derive the total rank. The four criteria used are
described in this table as items 2 through 5.
2. The Ratio of Micro Business Loans to Total Assets (SSBL/TA). This column shows the ratio
of micro business loans (<$100,000) to total assets for each bank. A high ratio indicates a
bank’s willingness to place a large portion of its assets in small business lending.
3. The Ratio of the Dollar Amount of Micro Business Loans to Total Business Loans
(SSBL/TBL). The ratio of micro business loans (<$100,000) to total business loans for each
bank. Banks that make business loans predominantly to small firms will rank high in this
category.
4. Total Dollar Amount of Micro Business Lending by the Bank (SSBL$). The total dollar
amount (in thousands) of micro business loans of less than $100,000.
5. Total Number of Micro Business Loans (SSBL#). The number of micro business loans of
less than $100,000.
6. No. States w/Loans. The number of states (territories) where the bank extended micro business
loans.
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7. Bank/BHC Asset Size Class (Bk. Size). Asset size class of the bank/BHC:
• $10 billion to under $50 billion ($10B–$50B)
• $50 billion and over (>$50B)
8. Total Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans by the Bank (LSBL$). Similar to column 4,
but for loans of less than $1 million, in thousands of dollars.
9. Total Number of Small Business Loans by the Bank (LSBL#). Similar to column 5, but for
loans of less than $1 million.
Table 3A. Banks’ Small Business Lending by State Using Call Report Data, June 2004
1. Total Score (Total Rank). The total rank found in the first column is the score of the
commercial bank in the state in which it is listed. The number is the aggregate measure of
small business lending activity based on the sum of the four individual decile scores provided
in the expanded version of Table 3A found on Advocacy’s webpage,
www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.
2. The Ratio of Small Business Loans to Total Assets (LSBL/TA). This column shows the ratio
of small business loans (<$1 million) to total assets for each bank. A high ratio indicates a
bank’s willingness to place a large portion of its assets in small business lending.
3. The Ratio of the Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans to Total Business Loans
(LSBL/TBL). The ratio of small business loans (<$1 million) to total business loans for each
bank. Banks that make business loans predominantly to small firms will rank high in this
category.
4. Total Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans (LSBL$). The dollar value (in thousands) of
small business loans (<$1 million) outstanding as of June 30, 2004 from the bank. Larger
banks will score well in this column and in column 5 because their size allows them to make
more small loans than smaller banks, even if their demonstrated commitment to small business
lending, as shown by the ratios in columns 2 and 3, is low.
5. Total Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#). The total number of small business loans
(<$1 million) outstanding for each bank.
6. Bank Asset Size (Bnk. Sz.). The asset size class of the reporting bank:
• Under $100 million (<$100M)
• $100 million to under $500 million ($100M–$500M)
• $500 million to under $1 billion ($500M–$1B)
• $1 billion to under $10 billion ($1B–$10B)
• $10 billion and over (>$10B)
7. Total Score of Micro Business Loans (Total Rank). The total score of the banks based on
their micro business lending. The total score is the sum of the four scores with respect to micro
business loans of less than $100,000. A firm looking for a loan of less than $100,000 might
want to seek out a bank that ranks high in this column (and/or from table 3B).
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8. Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans (SSBL$). The dollar value (in thousands) of micro
business loans of less than $100,000.
9. Number of Small Business Loans (SSBL#). The number of small business loans of less than
$100,000 made by the bank.
10. Credit Card Loans to Total Assets (CRD/TA). The ratio of the dollar value of credit card
loans to total assets.
Table 3B. Banks’ Micro Business Lending by State Using Call Report Data, June 2004
1. Total Score (Total Rank). The total found in the first column is the score of the commercial
bank in the state in which it is listed. The number is the aggregate measure of small business
lending activity based on the sum of the four individual scores provided on the website.
2. The Ratio of Micro Business Loans to Total Assets (SSBL/TA). This column shows the ratio
of micro business loans (<$100,000) to total assets for each bank. A high ratio indicates a
bank’s willingness to place a large portion of its assets in small business lending.
3. The Ratio of the Dollar Amount of Micro Business Loans to Total Business Loans
(SSBL/TBL). The ratio of micro business loans (<$100,000) to total business loans for each
bank. Banks that make business loans predominantly to small firms will rank high in this
category.
4. Total Dollar Amount of Micro Business Loans (SSBL$). The dollar value (in thousands) of
micro business loans (<$100,000) outstanding from the bank. Larger banks will score well in
this column and in column 5 because their size allows them to make many small loans, even if
their commitment to micro business lending, as shown by the ratios in columns 2 and 3, is low.
5. Total Number of Micro Business Loans (SSBL#). The total number of micro business loans
(<$100,000) outstanding for each bank.
6. Bank Asset Size (Bnk. Asset Sz.). The asset size class of the reporting bank:
• Under $100 million (<$100M)
• $100 million to under $500 million ($100M–$500M)
• $500 million to under $1 billion ($500M–$1B)
• $1 billion to under $10 billion ($1B–$10B)
• $10 billion and over (>$10B)
7. Total Score of Small Business Loans (Total Rank). The total score of the banks based on
their small business lending. The total score is the sum of the four scores with respect to small
business loans of less than $1 million. A firm looking for a loan of less than $1 million might
do well to seek out a bank that ranks high in this column (and/or from Table 3A).
8. Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans (LSBL$). The dollar value (in thousands) of micro
business loans of less than $1 million.
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9. Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#). The number of small business loans of less than
$1 million made by the bank.
10. Credit Card Loans to Total Assets (CRD/TA). The ratio of the dollar value of credit card
loans to total assets.
Table 4A Top Small Business Lenders by State Using CRA Data, 2003
Table 4A is formatted differently from Table 3A because only CRA data are used. The table lists the
bank name—the name of the owning bank or bank holding company—as well as the home state of the
bank. Banks/BHCs are ranked on the basis of the dollar amount of small business loans (under $ 1
million) made in 2003. The table also provides the dollar amount and number of small business loans
for micro loans under $100,000 and for large-sized loans between $100,000 and $1 million. Only
banks with small business loan totals in excess of $50 million in a given state in 2003 are listed.
1. Amount of Small Business Loans (LSBL$). The dollar amount, in thousands, of loans under
$1 million made in 2003.
2. Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#). The number of loans of less than $1 million
made.
3. Bank Asset Size (Bk Size): The total assets of the owning bank by size category:
• Under $1 billion (<$1B)
• $1 billion to under $10 billion ($1B-$10B)
• $10 billion to $50 billion ($10B-$50B)
• $50 billion and over (>$50B)
4. Dollar Amount of Micro Business Loans (SSBL$). The dollar amount, in thousands, of
loans of less than $100,000.
5. Number of Micro Business Loans (SSBL#). The number of loans of less than $100,000.
6. Dollar Amount of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)$ ). The dollar amount, in
thousands, for loans between $100,000 and $ 1million.
7. Number of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)# ). The number of larger small
business loans for loans between $100,000 and $1 million.
Table 4B Top Micro Business Lenders by State Using CRA Data, 2003
Table 4B, similar to Table 4A, lists the bank name—the name of the owning bank or bank holding
company—as well as the home state of the bank. Banks are ranked on the basis of the dollar amount of
loans made in 2003. The table provides the dollar amount and number of micro business loans under
$100,000, supplemented by larger loans between $100,000 and $1 million, and small business loans
under $1 million. Only banks with micro business loan totals in excess of $10 million in a given state
in 2003 are listed.
1. Amount of Micro Business Loans (SSBL$). The dollar amount, in thousands, of loans under
$100,000 made in 2003.
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2. Number of Micro Business Loans (SSBL#). The number of loans of less than $100,000
million made.
3. Bank Asset Size (Bk. Size). The total assets of the owning bank by size category:
• Under $1 billion (<$1B)
• $1 billion to under $10 billion ($1B-$10B)
• $10 billion to $50 billion ($10B-$50B)
• $50 billion and over (>$50B)
4. Dollar Amount of Small Business Loans (LSBL$). The dollar amount, in thousands, of loans
of less than $1 million.
5. Number of Small Business Loans (LSBL#): The number of loans of less than $1 million.
6. Dollar Amount of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)$ ). The dollar amount, in
thousands, for loans between $100,000 and $1 million.
7. Number of Large-Size Small Business Loans (LSBL(2)# ). The number of larger small
business loans for loans between $100,000 and $1 million.