Picture this: Your small business banking client, a local restaurant owner, comes to you for a small business loan with a solid business plan in hand and steady cash flow, too—but their credit score falls short of your requirements. Or maybe it’s a contractor who needs equipment financing but lacks the business history that your bank requires. These moments—when you see the potential but can’t say “yes”—don’t have to end in disappointment.
Instead of turning them down, refer them to Grow America to create a win-win situation where they get the financing they need and you preserve a valuable depository relationship.
What is Grow America’s “Second Look” program?
Grow America’s Second Look program transforms challenging situations into success stories, offering a valuable and viable path forward for small business financing. Like you, we focus on character, capacity, and cashflow. The difference? With our SBA program, we can say “yes” more often, with flexible approval criteria for:
- A promising business that lacks sufficient collateral
- A young company with strong growth potential but limited operating history
- A capable business owner whose credit history doesn’t quite meet bank criteria
In these situations and more, we have the flexibility to get more of your clients the financing they need while you maintain important depository relationships.
How our program benefits your bank
Our Second Look program is the solution for qualified small businesses that need a little more flexibility than traditional lending allows.
As an SBA preferred lending partner (PLP) with more than 30 years of experience with SBA loan programs, you and your small business clients can trust Grow America’s expertise. And, as a non-bank lender, we only handle the loan, so your client gains access to the capital they need through our SBA lending program, while your bank:
- Benefits from customer retention and relationship preservation: Rather than turning clients away, your clients maintain their deposit accounts with you while connecting them to the funding they need with Grow America, with no disruption to your relationship.
- Gains expert SBA lending support without costly overhead: Many banks want to offer SBA loans, but maintaining an in-house SBA department is costly and resource-intensive. With Grow America, you can leverage our decades of SBA expertise without the burden of establishing your own operation. We handle the paperwork and processes while you maintain the client relationship.
- Risk mitigation with reward potential: You continue serving your market and supporting small businesses without taking on loans that don’t align with your bank’s risk parameters, giving you a safe way to help your clients.
And, as these businesses thrive with Grow America’s support, they’ll eventually qualify for traditional bank loans—and they’ll remember that you helped them when they needed it most.
Our simple referral process
Referring clients to Grow America is straightforward and requires minimal time and effort:
1. Identify eligible loan applications: When reviewing applications, identify businesses with solid fundamentals that don’t quite meet your criteria. These are ideal Second Look candidates.
2. Explain Grow America to your client: Let your client know that if you can’t approve a loan, you have a partner in Grow America that specializes in supporting small businesses like theirs.
3. Make the referral through our digital portal: Use Grow America’s streamlined digital portal to submit the referral with basic information in less than a minute.
Once referred, Grow America handles the rest. We guide your client through the entire process and they can upload and track necessary documentation through our secure portal. Throughout, you both have complete transparency through our digital dashboard—as well as access to real people whenever you need us, with Grow America’s team of experienced lenders.
Getting started with the Grow America Second Look program
Becoming a Grow America referral partner and offering the Second Look program is easy. Your bank can be onboarded in as little as 48 business hours:
- Complete the partnership form at the end of this page and we’ll reach out to schedule an intro call to learn more about your clients and discuss the partnership.
- You’ll have the option to sign an MOU to formalize the relationship (while this step is optional, many banks appreciate memorializing the start of the partnership).
- You’ll receive your login information, with username and password, for our referral platform, and you can begin sending referrals immediately.
Our Second Look program turns challenges into opportunities: Instead of losing clients when you can’t approve their loans, you strengthen relationships by offering a financing alternative.
Contact Grow America today to learn more
Ready to expand your bank’s service to small businesses? Fill out the partnership form to get started. And, for more information about this or any Grow America program, contact us today.