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How Banks Determine Business Credit Worthiness: Low-5 Bank Rating

Reviewed by Ty Crandall

November 9, 2023
How Banks Determine Business Credit Worthiness: Low-5 Bank Rating

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Do You Need to Know Just How Banks Determine Your Business Credit Worthiness?

Banks are in the business of judging your company’s creditworthiness. This has a direct relationship to several important issues. Ignore these at your peril! It pays to take the time to try to understand how your business credit worthiness works. Want to know how banks determine your business credit worthiness?

Your Business Credit Worthiness – It All Has to do With Your Bank Credit Score

But what’s that all about?

Did you know there are many ways you can ravage your bank credit score? It is, regrettably, quite easy to run a power saw through your bank rating. Your business credit worthiness can easily end up taking a hit.

But before going any further, do you know the difference between bank credit ratings and small business credit?

Business credit is the full and complete amount of cash that your small business can receive from all manner of lenders. That means the credit unions, credit card companies, and also renting businesses. And it also means vendors, under what’s called trade credit or vendor credit or trade lines. That is, the vendor credit tier.

A bank credit score, on the other hand, is a measure of the full amount of borrowing ability which a company can get from the banking system only.How Lenders Calculate Business Creditworthiness Credit Suite

Bank Credit Scores Explained

A company can get more business credit fast . That is, as long as it has at least one financial institution reference. Plus it must have an average day to day account balance of at the very least $10,000 for the most recent three months. This setup will generate a bank credit rating of a Low-5. So this means it is an Adjusted Debt Balance of from $5,000 to $30,000.

A lower score, like a High-4, or balance of $7,000 to $9,999 will not result in an automatic turn down of the small business’s loan application. But it will slow down the approval process.

What is a Bank Rating?

A bank rating is a measure of the average minimum balance as kept in a business bank account over a 3 month long period. Hence a $10,000 balance| will rate as a Low-5, a $5,000 balance will rate as a Mid-4, and a $999 balance will rate as a High-3, etc.

A company’s chief goal ought to always be to maintain a minimum Low-5 bank rating (or, an average $10,000 balance) for a minimum of 3 months. This is because, without at the very least a Low-5 score, most financial institutions will assume a business cannot pay back a loan or a business line of credit.

Yet there is one point to keep in mind – you will never see this number. The financial institution will keep this number in its back pocket.

The Bank Rating Ranges

The numbers work out to the following ranges:

To get a High-5 rating, your business will need to have an account balance of $70,000 to $99,999. For a Mid-5 score, your business has to have an account balance of $40,000 to $69,999. And for a Low-5 score, your company should hold onto an account balance of $10,000 to $39,999. So your small business needs this level bank rating or better to get a bank loan.

For a High-4 score, your small business needs to have an account balance of $7,000 to $9,999. And for a Mid-4 rating, your company must have an account balance of $4,000 to $6,999. So for a Low-4 score, your company will need to have an account balance of $1,000 to $3,999.

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Your Business Credit Worthiness – It Can Be Scary Easy to Damage Your Bank Rating

And now, without further ado, here are 7 ways you can leave your bank score in tatters. These methods can all too easily hurt your business credit worthiness.

7th Way to Ruin Your Bank Credit

Don’t maintain a minimum balance for at least three months. Since every bank score cycle has a basis in the last 3 months, a seesawing balance will harm your bank score.

6th Way to Ruin Your Bank Credit Rating

Don’t bother to assure that your company bank accounts are on report the exact same way as all your small business records are. And do not assume they are on report with the exact same physical address (no post office box) and contact number. Sow confusion here by editing one and not another, or not dealing with an error if there is one.

Learn bank rating secrets with Credit Suite's free, sure-fire guide.

Fifth Way to Destroy Your Bank Credit

To support # 6, don’t make sure that each and every credit agency and trade credit vendor likewise lists the business name and address the precise same way. This is every keeper of financial records, earnings and sales taxes. It includes web addresses and email addresses, directory assistance, etc.

No loan provider is going to think of the myriad ways that a company may be listed, when they check out the business’s creditworthiness. So if they cannot find what they need fast, they will refute an application. Or it won’t be on the report to a company credit reporting bureau such as Experian, Equifax or Dun & Bradstreet.

For that reason, if they are not able to locate what they need quickly, they will simply reject the application. So make certain your documents are a mess!

4th Way to Damage Your Bank Credit Rating

Never handle your bank account responsibly. This means that your small business must not avoid writing non-sufficient funds (NSF) checks at all costs. Such is due to the fact that those decimate bank ratings. Non-sufficient funds checks are something which no company can afford to let happen.

Balancing checkbooks and accounts is so boring anyway. You’ve got adequate cash without even making sure, right?

Third Way to Ruin Your Bank Credit Rating

To add to # 4, do not add overdraft protection to your bank account ASAP, to avoid NSFs. Why bother thinking in advance or preparing for the future? Everything is going to be terrific permanently, right?

Writing checks insufficient funds (NSFs) is a sure way to wreck your bank score.

2nd Way to Damage Your Bank Credit Rating

Do not let your business show a positive cash flow. The cash coming in and leaving your business’s bank account should reflect a positive free cash flow.

A positive free cash flow is the quantity of revenue left over after a firm has paid all its expenses. According to Investopedia, it “represents the cash a company can generate after required investment to maintain or expand its asset base. It is a measurement of a company’s financial performance and health.”

When an account shows a positive cash flow it indicates your small business is generating more revenue than you use to run the firm. That means the bank will feel your small business can cover its costs.

So if you really intend to wreck your bank score, get whatever is expensive for your company so your costs overtake your profits.

Learn bank rating secrets with Credit Suite's free, sure-fire guide.

First Way to Damage Your Bank Credit Rating

Financial institutions have quite the motivation to lend to a small business with consistent deposits. And an entrepreneur must also make regular deposits to keep a positive bank rating. The business owner has to make a lot of regular deposits, greater than the withdrawals they are making, to have and maintain a great bank rating. If they can do that, then they will have a great bank credit score.

Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, right? So be a free spirit!

How Banks Determine Your Business Credit Worthiness – It is Way too Easy to Destroy Your Company’s Bank Score – Even Though You Will Never See It

You, the entrepreneur must never make consistent deposits. And these deposits ought to never be more than the withdrawals you are making, to ruin your bank credit.

If you can do these things, then your company will have a horrible bank credit score. And then a bad bank credit score means your firm is much less likely to get small business loans. This is how you can truly muck up your business credit worthiness.

How Banks Determine Your Business Credit Worthiness – Just Kidding: Of Course We Do Not Actually Want You to Destroy Your Company’s Bank Credit Rating!

But your business credit worthiness is a thing of value. You should want to protect and nurture it. So, where do you go from here?

The First Great Way to Rescue Your Bank Credit Rating

Probably the easiest way to achieve and maintain an excellent bank credit rating is to deposit at least $10,000 into your company bank account. And keep it there for as much as six months. While you will still have to make regular deposits, this one simple step will assist in 3 ways. One, you will have kept an excellent minimum balance for at the very least 3 months. Two, you will probably not overdraw with such a great balance. And three, you will be at the magic minimum for a Low-5 bank credit rating. Thus you will be dealing with our # 4 and # 7, above.

And you may even have the ability to get around our # 3. But we still highly recommend overdraft protection.

Learn bank rating secrets with Credit Suite's free, sure-fire guide.

The 2nd Excellent Way to Rescue Your Bank Credit Rating

A 2nd thing you can do is make certain your small business account details are consistent across the board, everywhere. While it may take some work order to make certain every little thing is right, you will be dealing with our # 5 as well as # 6, above.

The Third Great Way to Rescue Your Bank Credit Score

A 3rd thing you can do is make consistent deposits, as well as make sure they are greater than the quantities you are withdrawing each month. This will take care of our # 1 and also # 2.

How Banks Determine Your Business Credit Worthiness –Takeaways

Your bank score is not to be trifled with. The financial institutions maintain a mystery about them. Still, failing to keep your bank credit rating high will make it a whole lot harder to do well in business. In this way, you can defend and improve your business credit worthiness.

About the author 

Janet Gershen-Siegel

Janet Gershen-Siegel is the seasoned Finance Writer and a former content manager at Credit Suite. She has been admitted to practice law for over 30 years, with a focus on litigation and product liability, and is a published author, with writing credits at Entrepreneur, FedSmith.com and BusinessingMag.com.

She has a BA in Philosophy from Boston University, a JD from the Delaware Law School of Widener University, and a MS in Interactive Media (Social Media) from Quinnipiac University.

She regularly writes for Credit Suite, which helps businesses improve Fundability™, build credit, and get approved for loans and credit lines.

Her specialties: business credit, business credit cards, business funding, crowdfunding, and law

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