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The surprising use of credit scoring in small business lending by community banks and the attendant effects on credit availability and risk

Author

Listed:
  • Allen N. Berger
  • Adrian M. Cowan
  • W. Scott Frame

Abstract

The literature has documented a positive relationship between the use of credit scoring for small business loans and small business credit availability, broadly defined. However, this literature is hampered by the fact that all of the studies are based on a single 1998 survey of the very largest U.S. banking organizations. This paper addresses a number of deficiencies in the extant literature by employing data from a new survey on the use of credit scoring in small business lending, primarily by community banks. The survey evidence suggests that the use of credit scores in small business lending by community banks is surprisingly widespread. Moreover, the scores employed tend to be the consumer credit scores of the small business owners rather than the more encompassing small business credit scores that include data on the firms as well as on the owners. Our empirical analysis suggests that credit scoring is associated with increased small business lending after a learning period, with no material change in the quality of the loan portfolio. However, these quantity and quality results appear to vary depending on the way in which credit scores are implemented in the underwriting process.

Suggested Citation

  • Allen N. Berger & Adrian M. Cowan & W. Scott Frame, 2009. "The surprising use of credit scoring in small business lending by community banks and the attendant effects on credit availability and risk," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2009-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2009-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Berger, Allen N. & Espinosa-Vega, Marco A. & Frame, W. Scott & Miller, Nathan H., 2011. "Why do borrowers pledge collateral? New empirical evidence on the role of asymmetric information," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 55-70, January.
    2. Berger, Allen N & Frame, W Scott & Miller, Nathan H, 2005. "Credit Scoring and the Availability, Price, and Risk of Small Business Credit," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(2), pages 191-222, April.
    3. Kenneth P. Brevoort & Timothy H. Hannan, 2004. "Commercial lending and distance: evidence from Community Reinvestment Act data," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2004-24, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Robert DeYoung & William Hunter & Gregory Udell, 2004. "The Past, Present, and Probable Future for Community Banks," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 85-133, April.
    5. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 2006. "A more complete conceptual framework for SME finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2945-2966, November.
    6. W. Scott Frame & Lynn Woosley, 2004. "Credit Scoring and the Availability of Small Business Credit in Low‐ and Moderate‐Income Areas," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 39(1), pages 35-54, February.
    7. Allen N. Berger & W. Scott Frame, 2007. "Small Business Credit Scoring and Credit Availability," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 5-22, January.
    8. Frame, W Scott & Srinivasan, Aruna & Woosley, Lynn, 2001. "The Effect of Credit Scoring on Small-Business Lending," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(3), pages 813-825, August.
    9. Timothy Hannan, 2003. "Changes in Non-Local Lending to Small Business," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 24(1), pages 31-46, August.
    10. Loretta J. Mester, 1997. "What's the point of credit scoring?," Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, issue Sep, pages 3-16.
    11. W. Scott Frame & Michael Padhi & Lynn W. Woosley, 2001. "The effect of credit scoring on small business lending in low- and moderate-income areas," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2001-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Szabó, Zsolt, 2019. "Elbátortalanodott hiteligénylők a vállalati szektorban [Discouraged borrowers in the corporate sector]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1145-1186.
    2. W. Scott Frame & Lawrence J. White, 2009. "Technological Change, Financial Innovation, and Diffusion in Banking," Working Papers 09-03, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    3. Cole, Rebel & Sokolyk, Tatyana, 2016. "Who needs credit and who gets credit? Evidence from the surveys of small business finances," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 40-60.
    4. Cadot, Julien, 2013. "Collateral, bank monitoring and firm performance: the case of newly established wine farmers," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 57(3).
    5. Cadot, Julien, 2013. "Contrat bancaire et monitoring : le cas de l’installation en viticulture," Économie rurale, French Society of Rural Economics (SFER Société Française d'Economie Rurale), vol. 336(July-Augu).
    6. Doris Neuberger & Solvig Räthke-Döppner, 2015. "The role of demographics in small business loan pricing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 411-424, February.
    7. Cristina Bernini & Paola Brighi, 2011. "Relationship Lending, Distance and Efficiency in a Heterogeneous Banking System," Working Paper series 41_11, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.

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    Keywords

    small business finance; Credit ratings; Community banks; Risk;
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