When it comes to where they plan to go to for financing over the next six months, some small businesses said banks will likely be their first choice over credit unions and business credit cards.

That's according to a June survey of 6,000 business owners from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management, conducted in partnership with Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.

Sixty-eight percent of those seeking financing in the next six months said they will pursue a bank loan as a likely source of financing followed by 40% who said they will use a business credit card and 36% who will look at a credit union or community development financial institutions, the data showed.

Business owners with revenue between $5 million and $100 million were more optimistic about successfully raising financing from banks than businesses with revenues under $5 million, the survey noted.

While 67% of respondents were unsuccessful in securing a bank loan, they said the general category of financing is a still a good fit for their business, according to the survey.

Bank loans, in many ways, are a bellwether of the economy's strength, said John Paglia, director of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and associate professor of finance at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management.

“As business owners secure more traditional sources of financing and rely less on their own personal resources, they will have more discretionary money to spend thereby stimulating our economy,” he said in a statement.

One of Paglia's colleagues, David M. Smith, recently authored a report for the Filene Research Institute that showed credit unions were better at withstanding recessions compared to banks when it came to commercial lending.

Smith is an associate professor of economics and associate dean of academic affairs at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine.

Commercial loan growth rates for banks turned negative following the recessions beginning in 2001 and 2007, but credit union growth rates remained positive during both periods, according to Smith's analysis.

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