In the aftermath of the 2007-09 financial crisis and recession, the landscape of small business lending in the United States underwent a profound transformation. As traditional depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, tightened their lending standards and grappled with stricter regulatory requirements, a new breed of lenders emerged to fill the gap: nonbank lenders. Over the decade following the crisis, nonbank lending to small businesses grew remarkably, often outstripping the growth of loan originations from traditional banks. By 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global economies, nonbank lenders held an estimated $550 billion in outstanding loans to American small businesses. Today , these lenders account for roughly half of all new credit extended to small businesses, marking a seismic shift in how entrepreneurs and small enterprises access capital. The 2007-09 financial crisis exposed vulnerabilities in the global financial sys...