Small businesses access to traditional loans continues to grow as loan applications at big banks reached new heights last month the latest Biz2Credit data showed In its monthly Small Business Lending Index released Tuesday Sept 11 Biz2Credit found that big banks in August approved 265 percent of small business loan applications up 02 percent from July Analysts pointed to overall economic growth as a key factor behind big banks willingness to finance SMBs pointing to better-than-expected second quarter economic growth When you combine a strong economy healthy retail demand and the willingness of small business owners to reinvest their savings from tax cuts it creates a positive atmosphere for small business lending said Rohit Arora Biz2Credit CEO in a statement Business owners are bullish on the economy Rising retail sales are a particularly bright spot for small businesses he continued adding that the transportation logistics warehousing and construction industries are also performing extremely well Regional and community banks also saw their small business loan approval rates increase with small banks approving 498 percent of applications up one-tenth of a percent from July According to Biz2Credit this is the highest approval rate for small banks since November 2014 Reversing a trend alternative lenders also saw their loan approval rates increase to 566 percent Lawmakers are currently probing the US alternative small business finance market in an effort to explore borrower protections Alternative lenders succeed because they are a source of quick capital when small business owners are in a pinch and cannot get a traditional bank loan Arora said Meanwhile institutional lenders approval rates maintained the same level as in July while credit unions saw a slight one-tenth of a percent drop in their approval rates hitting 402 percent a significant decline from their all-time high on the Index with a 579 percent approval rating in March of 2012 Biz2Credit noted