SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) today announced the launch of FastFlex℠ Small Business Loan, an online, fast-decision loan that is funded as soon as the next business day and offers a competitive interest rate to small businesses with short-term credit needs. An innovation built in-house by Wells Fargo, the new loan product will be available in late May to existing customers, and joins the Wells Fargo family of small business products and comprehensive support offered through Wells Fargo Works for Small Business ^® .

FastFlex℠ Small Business Loan builds on Wells Fargo’s focus on small businesses, a market in which the company has set a five-year $100 billion lending goal. Since setting the goal in 2014, Wells Fargo has provided $40.7 billion in new loans to small businesses¹ (Jan. 2014 – March 2016).

“Because small businesses want faster, more convenient loan options, online and at competitive rates, we created Wells Fargo FastFlex Small Business Loan,” said Lisa Stevens, Wells Fargo’s head of Small Business. “With a $100 billion lending goal, we want to make every responsible small business loan we can. FastFlex Small Business Loan will help by offering short-term credit through an easy, fast-decision application process that includes competitive interest rates, clear terms and as-soon-as next day funding. This will put short-term credit within reach for many small businesses seeking to achieve financial success.”

The FastFlex Small Business Loan was developed by Wells Fargo Business Direct, a team that provides small business loans under $100,000 each. The typical FastFlex Small Business Loan customer is expected to have strong cash inflows, and short-term credit needs for funding ranging from facility expansion to cash management. The FastFlex Small Business Loan will be available with one-year terms, at amounts ranging from $10,000 to $35,000, with required payments made on a weekly basis automatically deducted from the customer’s business-deposit account. It will be available to Wells Fargo business-deposit customers who have been a customer of the bank for at least one year. Beginning in late May, existing Wells Fargo customers can apply for the FastFlex Small Business Loan online or by phone.

Since August 2015, a version of the FastFlex Small Business Loan has been offered as part of a limited pilot to a set of pre-qualified existing Wells Fargo customers. Among the current FastFlex Small Business Loan customers is John Armstrong, Clothier, a custom-clothing business based in Vestavia Hills, Ala.

“As a small business owner, I have found that capitalizing on good opportunities sometimes requires acting quickly. But securing funding is often a lengthy, time-consuming process,” said John Armstrong of John Armstrong, Clothier. “I learned about Wells Fargo’s FastFlex Small Business Loan at a time when we needed additional capital to purchase inventory and increase our marketing efforts. The loan application and approval process couldn’t have been simpler and we received funding very quickly.”

Wells Fargo Works for Small Business ^®

The FastFlex Small Business Loan builds on the comprehensive offerings of Wells Fargo Works for Small Business ^® – a broad initiative designed to deliver guidance and resources to help business owners achieve financial success. Through WellsFargoWorks.com, Wells Fargo offers an online community and education resources designed to help small business owners start, run, finance and grow their businesses. It includes The Business Plan Center, a free online tool introduced in 2015 that has helped 10,000 small business owners create and update their business plans in its first year and received nearly 1 million visits.

“Applying and obtaining a loan should be simple and convenient; getting ready for a loan needs to be thoughtful and well-planned,” Stevens said. “It’s as important as ever for small business owners to have one-on-one conversations with bankers, and access to resources and support to get credit-ready. It’s the reason we’re adding more Wells Fargo Works for Small Business tools that help businesses prepare to achieve success – from building a business plan to understanding how to manage cash flow.”

Small Business Appreciation Celebration

From April 1 through June 30, 2016, Wells Fargo is conducting its annual Small Business Appreciation Celebration. During this time, Wells Fargo will provide business owners with special business offers on several products and services. Wells Fargo’s recognition of small businesses coincides with local and national events conducted by the U.S. Small Business Administration during and following National Small Business Week, May 1-7, 2016.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.8 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,800 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 269,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 30 on Fortune’s 2015 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.

Wells Fargo serves approximately 3 million small business owners across the United States and loans more money to America’s small businesses than any other bank (2002-2014 CRA government data). To help more small businesses achieve financial success, in 2014 Wells Fargo introduced Wells Fargo Works for Small Business ^® – a broad initiative to deliver resources, guidance and services for business owners – and a goal to extend $100 billion in new lending to small businesses by 2018. For more information about Wells Fargo Works for Small Business, visit: WellsFargoWorks.com. Follow us on Twitter @WellsFargoWorks.

¹ – New loan commitments to small businesses primarily with annual revenue less than $20 million