by John Berlau
Original article published on Forbes.com
At the end of 2015, the American economy faced its first Federal Reserve interest rate hike in nearly a decade and that received a great deal of press and some resultant hand-wringing. However, an issue of even more importance is the changes in access to capital for small businesses that has occurred since the financial crisis hit in 2008.
Banks large and small were still reeling from the increased compliance requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act. And small businesses were virtually left out in the cold when it came to places to turn for lending since to service them has become too expensive to seem worthwhile to most traditional banks.
Fortunately, a new breed of lender has risen to fill this need. Knows as alternative lenders, these companies operate online and are helping thousands of small to medium sized U.S. business owners.