Business lending expert Member Business Solutions LLC on Fridayannounced it had achieved a deal with leading researcher BarlowResearch Associates to provide MBS members with access to detailedinformation on the financial practices and habits of smallbusinesses.

MBS – a CUSO that is wholly owned by Southeast Corporate in Tallahassee, Fla. – presently is theonly credit union-allied entity with access to the Barlow data,said MBS President Jim Gallagher.

“This will level a playing field because a lot of community andregional banks have access to the Barlow data,” said Gallagher.“Now credit unions can have it too.”

Gallagher declined to disclose the fee MBS is payingMinneapolis-based Barlow but he said that MBS members will not becharged an additional fee to access the information.

“We view this as a value-add we will provide our members,”Gallagher said.

Key to the Barlow data is that it provides extensive insightinto what small business executives look for in a banking partnerand also reveals what services they use and how.

“This information will help credit unions better compete,”Gallagher said.

He added that there is good news for credit unions to be foundin the Barlow data. “Approval attributes are higher for creditunions in the Barlow data I have looked at. Credit unions are doingan excellent job serving small business and that is what the datareveals.”