The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
launched a hotline Thursday that enables
small businesses to express concerns or
complaints about the availability of
bank credit.
The hotline is
(855) 334-2249
Information related to credit
programs, SBA, the hotline, and
submission forms can be found at
www.fdic.gov/smallbusiness.
NEWS
RELEASE - January 13, 2011
FDIC Announces Hotline for Small
Businesses Regarding Availability of
Credit
The Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation today held a forum on small
lending to explore ways in which credit
can be made more accessible to the small
business sector. Small businesses are
critical to fueling the nation's
economic growth, and their ability to
generate new jobs depends, in large
part, on access to credit.
As a result of the forum and in
recognition of importance of available
credit to small businesses, the FDIC
announced the formation of a new
dedicated, toll-free hotline for small
businesses. The new hotline became
operational today and allows small
business owners to make inquiries with
FDIC officials or to register concerns
about the availability of credit. The
FDIC will respond to inquiries about
policies and financial institutions it
regulates as well as make referrals to
other governmental agencies where
appropriate.
"A combination of factors have
created issues and challenges for small
businesses, but it is turning in terms
of credit availability. I think it is
going to get better, and we're working
to facilitate that with the dialogue
this conference will spark along with
our new hotline and website dedicated to
small businesses," said FDIC Chairman
Sheila C. Bair.
The small business hotline went live
today and is operational Monday thru
Friday, 8am to 8pm, Eastern Standard
Time. As part of the kickoff of the
hotline, it will be open this weekend
only, 9am to 5pm, Eastern Standard Time.
The toll-free number is 1-855-FDIC-BIZ
(1-855-334-2249). To complement the new
small business hotline, the FDIC also
created a dedicated Web site for small
businesses to utilize:
http://fdic.gov/smallbusiness.
Today's forum, "Overcoming Obstacles
to Small Business Lending," brought
together key government officials
including FDIC Chairman Bair; Ben S.
Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
Mark R. Warner, U.S. Senator from the
Commonwealth of Virginia; and Thomas D.
Bell, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce.
An archive of the forum will be made
available on the FDIC's Web site
http://fdic.gov/
