In a move to free up more capital that it hopes will jumpstart the economy, the Obama administration today announced a program to increase the amount of small business loans made by credit unions and other lenders.
The government currently guarantees between 50% and 85% of these loans, and under the new proposal would guarantee up to 90%.
The government will also temporarily lift some of the fees on these loans and begin to buy some bundled small business loans on the secondary market.
Recommended For You
These are loans under a program aimed at business owners who were unable to find credit from other sources.
Both CUNA President Dan Mica and NAFCU President Fred Becker and their top regulatory lawyers
were at the White House event at which the program was announced.
After the event, Mica told Credit Union Times he hoped to use the Obama administration's interest in making more capital available for small businesses as additional leverage to persuade lawmakers to lift the cap on member business loans.
Becker told Credit Union Times that "the more the public becomes aware of this issue, the more pressure there will be for action on Capitol Hill."
He shook hands with Obama and told him that credit unions do a lot for small businesses and said the president replied "thanks very much, I appreciate that."
CUNA Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Mary Mitchell Dunn said she shook Obama's hand and said to him "credit unions want to help small businesses." Obama replied "I agree."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
