Wells Fargo has announced a $425,000 grant award to FINANTA to help expand the nonprofit’s Affinity Group Lending program. The grant is part of the company’s national push to increase access to capital and technical assistance for Diverse Small Businesses. FINANTA’s Affinity Group Lending program provides small loans to typically financially underserved entrepreneurs who are looking to increase access to capital and the financial capacity of their businesses. The award will support expansion of FFINANTA’s Affinity Group Lending model to up to 450 entrepreneurs in Philadelphia while also replicating the model in Alabama, California, Missouri and Nebraska.
While the average loan size is just over $4,000, participants in the program have the potential of accessing up to $25,000 if they demonstrate financial capacity and meet their loan obligations. Typically successful graduates of the program have established and increased credit scores, successfully paid off loans, and achieved financial goals while developing stronger businesses, creating more assets, and establishing capacity to access larger amounts of capital as necessary which provides increased access capital and services from a bank or credit union. Over the past 3 years, FINANTA has grown to be one of the top SBA microlenders in the nation and #1 locally. As a result, the SBA awarded the “Jody C. Raskind Lender” Award of the Year in 2016 to FINANTA for the rapid expansion of microlending.