The Banker's Guide to New Small Business Finance
A veteran banker's insider guide to how fintech disrupted small business lending after the 2008 financial crisis.
Written by Charles H. Green, a 30-year banking veteran who founded Sunrise Bank of Atlanta, “The Banker’s Guide to New Small Business Finance” chronicles the rise of what Green calls the “innovative funding” sector. Published by Wiley in 2014, the book explains how three forces collided to reshape small business finance forever: the 2008 financial crisis that froze bank lending, the digital revolution led by Amazon, Google, and Facebook, and private investors desperate for returns in a near-zero interest rate environment.
Green walks readers through the structural reasons banks struggle to serve small businesses, from FDIC deposit regulations to the simple math of scaling $40,000 loans. He then profiles the wave of new players that filled the gap: merchant cash advance companies, online lenders using 2,000+ data points for underwriting, crowdfunding platforms, digital factoring marketplaces, and peer-to-peer lending sites like Lending Club. The book is notable for its honest assessment of both sides, praising innovation while warning about opaque pricing that can push effective rates past 72% APR.
What makes this book valuable years after publication is how accurately Green predicted the trajectory of fintech lending. The sector grew from roughly $100 billion to a multi-trillion dollar industry. His core insight still holds: banks have the cheapest funding and the most customers, but technology companies have speed, flexibility, and a willingness to treat credit losses as a budget line item rather than something to be eradicated at all costs.