The digital lending sector in the USA has undergone considerable growth in recent years. It's being accelerated by technological innovations and the resultant changes in customer preferences.
Digital borrowing relates to the act of obtaining loans via online platforms rather than going through the traditional banking system. It’s an innovative concept that offers consumers and business owners improved accessibility and speedier results when reviewing loan applications.
In 2025, the size of the digital lending sector in the USA is estimated to reach 511.57 US$ and continue increasing until, by the year 2030, it reaches a market value of 896.34 billion US$, experiencing a CAGR of 11.87%.
Business Lending After COVID
As with many countries, SMEs are one of the main driving forces of the US economy, and following the COVID-19 pandemic, many experienced problems securing the funds they needed to keep their businesses running. With traditional banks being slow to respond and unwilling to take chances, many SME owners and entrepreneurs turned to alternative digital lending solutions - to platforms like Affirm, LendingClub, Sofi and Upstart, who bring new levels of speed, convenience, and accessibility into the US loan sector.
But while it is possible to compare potential business loan offers in the US by using platforms like Business Loans, Fintech Labs, and Forbes, they are nowhere near as user-friendly as business loan tendering sites such as this one in Finland. The information the aforementioned US platforms carry is, at best, limited, and the application process is much more complex and tedious.
The Finnish loan comparison platforms employ a sliding calculator that potential borrowers can use to see immediately how much a loan of a specific value will cost in terms of monthly repayments over a specific term. Using these platforms, you can get loans tendered up to €8 million.
Short vs Long-Term Loans and Which Is Best
The longer the term over which you make repayments, the higher the interest rate. It’s the same for both personal and business loans. Therefore, ideally, you should opt for short-term. But of course, the shorter the term, the higher the monthly repayment amounts will be, so it’s a case of choosing the right balance.
The US Federal government announced its new SSCBI initiative in March 2024. The initials stand for State Small Business Credit Initiative. It’s a technical assistance grant program worth over $27 million. Before entrepreneurs and business owners apply for digital loans, it's always worth checking to see if they qualify for this type of support.
Federal grants are also available for individual US citizens too, offering mortgage assistance and home ownership vouchers for first-time buyers.
In Finland, Finnish citizens can make use of loan comparison sites to evaluate whether long- or short-term loans are best. They, too, have a loan calculator like those mentioned earlier, to provide consumers with an immediate indication of what the monthly repayments will be. Loan proposals are gathered from 30 different tried and trusted financial banks and businesses for you to compare, and this service is totally free of charge with no obligation to proceed further if you decide not to.
Loans for Home Renovations
Earlier, we mentioned that Federal grants are available in the US for businesses looking to establish their position and citizens trying to buy their first property. Grants are also available for home renovations, too, in the form of HUD Title 1 property improvement loans.
But, if you don’t qualify for a grant, you can check out resources such as the Mortgage Reports website, who discuss 6 types of different home improvement loans.
Alternative, digital finance loans can be an excellent option. In Finland, platforms like this help homeowners find the best loans by presenting them with numerous home renovation loan options up to €70,000 with repayment terms stretching from 1 to 20 years. Again, it’s a free, non-obligatory service, and being one of the alternative digital finance options, it offers better interest rates than many more traditional loans.
Alternative Finance Debt Consolidation Loans
According to the Federal Bank of New York, household debt in the US has reached $17.94 Trillion, and delinquency rates remain high. The report reveals that although income growth has outpaced debt, the continued raised balance figures show the stress that many households are under. Credit card debt has topped out at $1.17 trillion.
US inflation for the year 2024 was 2.9%, 0.2% higher than it was in 2023. There are also fears that the tariffs President Donald Trump is threatening to impose could lead to even higher inflation.
Consolidation loans can be an excellent way of managing and reducing debt. Loans of up to £100,000 are possible from lenders like Lightstream and Upstart, with interest rates varying from 6.95% to 35.99%.
As you can see, the interest rates levied in the USA can be eye-wateringly high. Perhaps they should follow Finland’s lead? From October 2023, the Finnish financial authority reformed the Consumer Act regarding consumer credits and online payments, ruling that the rate cannot be higher than the reference rate (currently 4%), plus 15%.
Consumers in search of consolidation finance can use a digital loan comparison site to receive up to 30 loan proposals from various trustworthy banks and finance companies, safe in the knowledge that all of the quotations must offer interest rates within the capped band. Whereas with the American system, you apply to each loan company, which is time-consuming, with Finnish digital loan tendering platforms like those mentioned above, you only have to complete one application to receive multiple (up to 30) offers.
More Chances of Loan Application Approval with Digital Alternative Loan Platform
There is a greater chance of being denied a loan when you apply to traditional banks and bank-based services than with the new breed of digital alternative loan agencies. Because of AI, big data, and advanced analytical algorithms, digital lenders build more comprehensive consumer profiles, taking a wider range of aspects into account which makes their application acceptance rate much higher.
The digital lending revolution is well underway, and as the Cloud, blockchain, and other new technologies progress, there is little doubt that alternative lending will become the first-choice solution for consumers and businesses all over the world.
