Brett Thompson, president/CEO of the Wisconsin Credit Union League, suggested banks have the market cornered when it comes to small business lending.

“This is not a 'credit unions vs. banks' issue,” Thompson wrote in the Milwaukee Biz Blog. Banks control 95% of the country's small business lending market.”

Thompson penned the opinion piece to promote proposed legislation that would raise the member business lending cap from 12.25% to 27.5%.

“Clearly, passage of this legislation would have a tremendous impact, particularly at a time when small businesses continue to be hurt by their inability to gain access to the credit they need to grow,” Thompson said.

Raising the cap would free up $13 billion in capital and create 140,000 new jobs nationwide, he wrote.  In Wisconsin, the legislation would create $408 million of new credit and add 4,437 jobs in the first year alone, Thompson added.

“Notably, Wisconsin credit unions have had a lower loss rate than banks on business loans for over a decade,” Thompson said.