Fast Credit Online - innovations on banking services

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, March, 2001 by Melynda Dovel Wilcox

BANKING | Lending networks on the Web give SMALL BUSINESSES more places to borrow money with fewer hassles.

FAST CREDIT ONLINE

SHARON BERRY got a lukewarm reception from local banks when she sought a loan to expand her Stafford, Va., child-care business by opening a second center. Rather than scrap her plans, Berry visited a Web site called LiveCapital, filled out an online loan application, and within about five minutes was evaluating competing offers from several banks. Within two weeks Berry had her money.

LiveCapital and several other online companies have built networks of lenders that small businesses can tap into quickly and easily (see the box below). In the case of LiveCapital, 70 financial institutions belong to the network, among them American Express, Citibank, First Union, G.E.Capital and Wells Fargo. Mike Grossman, LiveCapital's co-founder and CEO, says its customers value convenience and anonymity as opposed to "going from bank to bank and getting grilled by a loan officer."

Real-time credit approval doesn't always replace the intangible value of personal banking. "When business owners face difficult times and they've been loyal clients, their bank will be there for them," says Loren Herbst, a retired banker who counsels small companies as a volunteer with the Service Corps of Retired Executives. But if you don't have such a relationship, or if you have already applied for a bank loan and been turned down, "what do you have to lose?" says Herbst.