Small-business owners’ concerns about the health of their bank have eased significantly in recent months, with more than half saying they are not concerned at all, according to a new survey of small-business attitudes about banking by the National Federation of Independent Business. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they had no concerns about the health of their bank, up from 31% during the previous survey in April, or roughly a month after the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures. Four percent were “very” concerned, 13% were moderately concerned and 29% were slightly concerned.
The survey also found that small-business owners are confident about the stability of their bank and have not sought out alternative financial institutions. Ninety-seven percent of owners have not changed their primary financial institution that they use for business purposes in the last three months, according to NFIB. Only 6% of owners were considering changing their primary financial institution.
The top concern for small-business owners was financing, with 58% of respondents who borrowed or tried to borrow citing high interest rates as their biggest complaint. Among recent borrowers, 32% were very satisfied with the amount and terms offered for the financing received. Another 33% were mostly satisfied and 19% were moderately satisfied. Seventeen percent of owners reported that they were not satisfied.
