Wells Fargo Expands Loan Program: For the...

Wells Fargo Expands Loan Program: For the second time in two years, the bank is offering special loans to female entrepreneurs, this time $10 billion to be dispersed over a decade. A year ago, Wells set up a loan fund of $1 billion in partnership with the National Assn. of Women Business Owners that it expected to give out over three years. But demand was so high that the funds were spoken for within 12 months. The $1 billion represented 40% of the bank’s total small-business lending, said Terri Dial, head of the bank’s small-business banking services. Dial said 75% of the loans to female entrepreneurs were unsecured lines of credit of less than $25,000. The bank has lowered its minimum credit line size from $10,000 to $5,000 to better serve small, women-owned firms, she said.