After extensive consultation with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and national, regional, and local small business bankers, FRANdata is expanding its Franchise Registry online lending portal to provide lenders with the additional credit risk information tools to assess the risks of lending to franchise systems.
Since 1997, the Franchise Registry has served as the place where lenders validated technical SBA franchise loan risks. The service is now expanding to include tools that go beyond technical requirements of the SBA to include analysis of franchise system credit risk to assist lender in making underwriting decisions.
"In order to make franchise loans, we must have information about the franchise systems as well as the borrowers. With the new Franchise Registry, a site we already know and use regularly, FRANdata is providing a central place for us to find that information" says Larry Conley, senior vice president, JP Morgan Chase.
"The Franchise Registry has been a success for lenders, franchises and the SBA. SBA lenders involved in franchise financing regularly use the site and the expanded functionality only makes it more valuable to them," says Darrell Johnson, president and CEO of FRANdata.
At the recent IFA Franchise Lending Summit and NAGGL conferences, lenders made it clear that the lack of reliable information is an obstacle to increasing the small business lending that will help fuel this country's economic recovery.
For years, FRANdata has been improving franchise financing with benchmarking research and underwriting products like the Bank Credit Report. The expanded Franchise Registry will provide both SBA and conventional lenders with the additional information they need to make better credit decisions and more loans.
