How can banks help small businesses with credit and financing?
Banks have a number of products with different terms and maturities based upon the specific needs of the business. The most common are lines of credit (usually renewable on an annual basis, with interest typically tied to an index), term loans (mostly fixed-rate loans with maturities usually ranging from three to seven years) and long-term financing (often related to real estate assets, with maturities in the 15 to 25 year range). What other types of banking services are available to small businesses? Banks offer very useful services to help small businesses track their accounts and move funds. These products include daily notification of cash disbursements, wire services and bill pay options. As small business grow into mid-size businesses, they also can use their banks to help with more advanced services, such as account analysis and investment alternatives. Jose Valle is president of the Miami-Dade region of BankAtlantic. Contact him at (305) 383-4517 or jvalle@bankatlantic.com.
