Heard on the Street – here’s what we were reading last week:
Are Black Businesses Ready For Another Recession?: Black businesses were slammed by the pandemic-induced recession of 2020. Although they bounced back fairly strongly in 2021, many Black businesses still have some of the vulnerabilities that existed before, such as low cash reserves and difficulty accessing credit relative to other groups.
As fintechs stumble, traditional banks will try to win back SMBs: SMBs that survived the pandemic now face an unsettling economic environment. At the same time, one such fintech that thousands of these businesses counted on announced last week that it will soon stop serving most SMBs.
Funding Circle, DreamSpring Partner to Increase Access to Capital for Small Business Owners in Underserved Communities: Online lending platform’s lending-as-a-service program expands nonprofit community development financial institution’s equitable lending reach and impact
Small businesses are hit with back rent demands amid high inflation: The rent has come due for America’s small businesses and at a very inopportune time. Landlords were lenient about rent payments during the first two years of the pandemic. Now, many are asking for back rent, and some are raising the current rent as well.