Real-time underwriting is the new moat in SMB lending

Static credit files describe a business as it was last quarter. Lenders plugged into live operating data — sales, cash flow, inventory turns — see it as it is today.

That changes two things: approvals collapse from weeks to minutes, and risk gets priced on signals competitors can't observe. The data access is the underwriting edge.

Signal: in SMB credit, the moat is the integration, not the model. Own the data pipe and you own the spread.