Scale Link: Rewriting the economics of loans under $100,000

Our programs

Scale Link helps to build and grow the secondary market for community lenders by bundling CDFI microloans and selling them to banks.

How Scale Link works to strengthen the small business ecosystem

  • Small businesses seeking loans under $100,000 often face a frustrating gap: too small for traditional underwriting, too complex for overburdened state programs. At the same time, the CDFIs positioned to serve them are constrained by operational challenges and limited liquidity.
  • Scale Link is working to change that. As a secondary market for CDFI-originated microloans, Scale Link designs financial infrastructure that enables community lenders to do more, with less friction. Through partnerships with nearly 40 CDFIs across the country, Scale Link is building a streamlined, scalable approach to loan guarantees that strengthens the economics of small-dollar lending and expands access to affordable capital for underserved entrepreneurs.

Program overview

Our work together

  • Scale Link, with support from Mastercard Strive USA, is designing and launching a new loan guarantee program focused on loans under $100,000 — helping states deploy their State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding more effectively and making it easier for CDFIs to lend at scale.
  • The program will feature standardized terms across states and near-instant decisioning powered by a loan performance data set covering nearly 100,000 historical CDFI microloans. By combining automation with a streamlined file transfer process, Scale Link will reduce administrative burdens, lower loan loss reserves, and improve the economics of small-dollar lending.
  • The result: more capital flowing to entrepreneurs who have historically been left out of traditional lending, especially those who are women, people of color, or low-income business owners.

By the numbers

Over the course of the program, Scale Link aims to:

  • Launch 10 state guarantee programs
  • Engage 20 CDFIs and CDCs
  • Enable $18.9 million in small-dollar business loans
  • Reach more than 600 small businesses

“It has been a long-standing challenge to support small businesses who need loans under $100,000. This work will help to unlock more capital for these entrepreneurs while also helping CDFIs to grow their impact. ”

Jonathan Brereton

CEO, Scale Link

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