Investors ask us all the time, “Why do borrowers come to you, instead of borrowing money from their neighborhood bank?”
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on the shifting preferences of consumers away from traditional banks, and towards non-traditional sources of capital. The article mainly looks at the trend from a consumer credit perspective, but an equally compelling argument can be made for business-purpose lending – borrowers have increasingly become frustrated with all the hoops and red tape they encounter working with their banks, and are looking for more efficient solutions to obtaining investment capital. They are willing to pay a slight premium for better, faster, and more individually responsive service.
Read the article, Footnote to Financial Crisis: More People Shun the Bank (WSJ 9/11/12)