Women- and minority-owned SMBs represent significant growth opportunities for lenders, with 26% and 24% of SMBs identifying as minority- and women-owned, respectively. Minority-owned businesses favor digital channels, embedded lending, and online lenders, showing higher satisfaction with process speed and automation. Women-owned SMBs, however, report dissatisfaction with current loan process efficiency and automation, signaling a need for improvement. Financial institutions must tailor their strategies to each group’s preferences, as their credit-seeking behaviors and expectations differ significantly despite some shared firmographics.

Join for free to read