FDIC Advisory Committee on 

Community Banking

May 3, 2022

FDIC 2022 Small Business Lending Survey (SBLS 2022)
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What is the SBLS?

Nationally-representative survey of banks and their small 

business lending (SBL) practices and activities 

• Launching in June 2022

• First survey data collection in 2016

Implemented by US Census

• Contract abides by Census rules (Titles 13 and 26)

• Guarantees confidentiality of respondent identities

Approximately 2,000 FDIC-insured institutions will be asked to 

participate
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Why is the SBLS of interest to community bankers?

Banks are important to U.S. small businesses

• Small businesses (SBs) comprise 99.9 percent of all U.S. firms*

• Banks are the most common source of external financing for SBs*

Goal: Close gaps in our knowledge

• The industry is constantly evolving, with emerging topics

• Small business lending is not captured entirely in regulatory reports

Goal: Document contributions of banks to the U.S. economy through 

their small business lending activities

* Sources: Frequently Asked Questions (Small Business Administration, 2021) and Small Business Credit Survey (Federal 

Reserve, 2021)
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What topics are in the SBLS 2022?

Three Qualitative Sections

I. General small business lending, loan approval,* underwriting processes, 

use of FinTech*

II. Markets and competition

III. Coronavirus pandemic response,* Small Business Administration lending,* 

selling of small business loans*

One Quantitative

IV. Volume of small business loan dollars, originations and outstanding

* New topics in SBLS 2022
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What is unique about the SBLS?

Questions differ in each nationally representative data collection to 

evolve with the industry and with current interests

• More authoritative than frequently occurring surveys using convenience samples

• More comprehensive than other nationally representative surveys that contain narrowly defined standard 

questions

Banks self-define small business lending in qualitative questions 

• Respondents use their own formal or informal definitions for what is considered a “small business”

• Does not rely on regulatory thresholds

Improved measurement of bank SBL in quantitative questions

• Better distinguishes between small loans (less than $1M) to businesses and loans to small businesses

• Other lending not captured on Call Report (e.g., third-party originations)
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What kinds of qualitative questions will be asked?

Q: In which stages of the small business loan process does your bank use or plan to use FinTech? Include usage or 

planned usage of both in-house technology or through interactions with outside FinTech providers. 

Select ALL that apply per small business loan process stage.
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What kinds of quantitative questions will be asked?

Example of SBLS 2016 Question and Analysis

• Banks ($1B+ total assets) asked to break down outstanding commercial and industrial (C&I) 

balances by both loan and firm size

• C&I loans more or less than $1M (LT $1M common Call Report bank small business lending proxy)

• Gross Annual Revenue (GAR) more or less than $10M 

• As a share of total C&I loan dollars made by banks with $1B to $10B in assets: 

• 23.1 percent net understatement if rely on Call Report proxy as a small business lending measure*

SBLS 2022 Question Update

• Finer buckets for loan size, now including: $1M to $5M / $5M to $10M / $10M+

• Finer buckets for GAR, now including: $1M to $5M / $5M to $10M 

*Source: Measurement of Small Business Lending Using Call Reports: Further Insights from the Small Business Lending Survey (FDIC 

Staff Studies, July 2020)
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When is the survey going to happen?

May 3rd Joint Letter from FDIC Acting Chairman and Census 

Director 

• To 2,000 banks, announcing selection to respond to the survey

• Hard copy via mail and associated email from this address: erd.sbls.eblast@census.gov

June 14th Survey Launch Letter

• Includes Census web portal link and unique authentication code

• Able to share portal access with bank staff

Data Collection Period

• Census will follow-up after July 19th 

• Last day to submit: December 30, 2022
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Sampling Note

Census draws a sample of 2,000 from the following:

• All FDIC-insured banks with domestic offices that actively make loans (regardless of primary federal regulator)

Certainty sample (300+ banks)

• All FDIC-insured institutions with reported total assets of $3 billion or more will be 

included

Random sample (1,600+ banks)

• Drawn from the set of banks with total assets of less than $3 billion

• Selection process is confidential; identities of selected banks are not shared with the 

FDIC

• Banks are allowed to share if they were selected
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What does the FDIC want bankers to do?

Please respond to the survey

• The FDIC wants community bank perspectives to be represented

• More responses mean greater statistical confidence in findings

Encourage other community banks to respond to the survey

• The SBLS 2022 is an FDIC project

• Responses help improve understanding of banks’ role in this important economic 

sector

Designate bank staff person to coordinate survey response

• Identify appropriate bank staff to answer specific questions

• Share survey access (multiple staff can fill out the survey simultaneously)
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What if my bank has questions?

Register for the FDIC SBLS 2022 Meetings for Bankers:

Wednesday, May 11, 2022: 1pm – 2pm EDT

Thursday, May 12, 2022: 1pm – 2pm EDT

Monday, May 16, 2022: 1:30pm – 2:30pm EDT

Tuesday, May 17, 2022: 2pm – 3pm EDT

The FDIC SBLS Team will share more about the survey, and bankers can ask questions directly.

Bankers may attend multiple sessions, and more than one bank staff member may attend.

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Visit the FDIC’s SBLS 2022 Dedicated Website

(Find Survey PDF and FAQs)

Direct questions to the SBLS Team at: SBLS@FDIC.gov
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FDIC 2022 Small Business Lending Survey

We hope your bank will participate in 

the SBLS 2022!

Thank You!

FDIC 2022 Small Business Lending Survey