Finance: Loans to Women
Wells Fargo's $10 Billion Women's Loan Program

Wells Fargo Bank has loaned $2.25 billion to women small business owners since the inception of its landmark $10 billion Women's Loan Program two years ago, and better than a billion in the last year alone.

"We are thrilled that our program is growing and keeping pace with the phenomenal growth of women owned businesses," said Lucile Reid, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Bank. "We're on track to beat our 10-year, $10 billion commitment to women, and we're going to fuel economic growth across this country in the process."

In the first year of the Women's Loan Program, Wells Fargo loaned $1 billion to women-owned businesses; in the second year, lending volume increased by 25 percent.

In the fall of 1995, the Bank partnered with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), earmarking $1 billion for loans to women business owners over a three-year period. However, response from women small business owners was so strong that the $1 billion was lent in a year, and in 1996 Wells Fargo followed up with a $10 billion ten-year lending commitment.

Phyllis Hill Slater, president of NAWBO, said, "Wells Fargo is a true trailblazer for opening the doors to equal access to credit for women business owners. This loan program has certainly made an epic difference in helping grow women-owned businesses."

To qualify for a loan under the program, women business owners must have a good personal and business credit record; have been in business for at least three years or have an equivalent period of related experience; have a profitable business; have an established bank account for business; and have no declared bankruptcy within the past 10 years.

Loans issued under the program do not require collateral and have a variable interest rate based on prime. Loans are available from $5,000 to $100,000.

The loan application process is simple and can be processed through the phone, mail or fax. Information about the loan program can be requested by calling 1-888/767-2444. For loans up to $50,000, the application form is one page and tax returns or financial statements are not required. Information about the program is also available through NAWBO and its chapters across the country.