10 Ways SMBs Accessed and Used Credit in 2024
SMBs can have wildly different experiences accessing credit, PYMNTS Intelligence data reveals. This disparity is especially evident when comparing small businesses of different revenue brackets. SMBs generating more than $1 million in revenue are twice as likely to have access to business credit as those generating less than $150,000. Nearly half of those surveyed do not have access to any financing source.
Business and personal credit cards are the most prevalent financing tools these businesses can access. While higher-revenue SMBs can find a wider array of business credit options available, many lower-revenue businesses rely on personal sources of financing, which may hinder their ability to build a strong credit portfolio and limit their business’s future growth potential.
A significant number of these businesses utilize credit out of necessity rather than strategic planning. Roughly half of these businesses with less than $150,000 in revenue use credit out of need, possibly indicating that financial instability is common among these businesses. Conversely, higher-revenue SMBs demonstrate a greater tendency to employ financing strategically — often with an eye on growth.
This eBook’s data also reveals the primary concern among SMBs that have credit access but choose not to use it. Additionally, it reveals the type of payments that many of these businesses are interested in using credit cards for, particularly those with strong cash flows.
The stakes for credit access are very high for SMBs, as those without access to credit are five times more likely than those with access to express concerns about their survival.
Read the December 2024 eBook to learn more about SMBs’ different experiences accessing credit.
- Explore disparities in credit access among SMBs, including key trends for those in different revenue brackets.
- Learn how the reliance on personal financing can impede lower-revenue businesses from building a robust credit profile, which can have implications for their future growth.
- Discover the most important reasons behind these businesses’ credit usage, including why a significant number, especially those with lower revenues, use credit out of necessity rather than strategic planning.
- Recognize SMBs’ credit concerns and deterrences that can keep many from utilizing available credit.
- Investigate the connection between credit access and business confidence.
Download the eBook here.
This eBook explores the various ways in which SMBs face in accessing and leveraging credit. Ten charts of insightful data uncover valuable insights into the SMB credit landscape and the strategic opportunities credit offers in this dynamic market. Download the eBook to learn more about how financial difficulties can impede these businesses from leveraging credit strategically.
About the eBook
“SMB Growth: Credit Access — 10 Impact Statements”, a PYMNTS Intelligence eBook, is based on a series of monthly reports containing data gathered between April 2024 and November 2024. Our sample included at least 500 SMBs each month, representing various sizes and industries: 27% of SMBs generate revenues of more than $1 million per year, and 36% generate less than $150,000. In addition, our sample included SMBs in retail (17%), construction (18%), hospitality (9%) and professional services (11%), among others.
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