CFPB Finalizes Streamlined Small-Business Lending Data Rule

Posted: May 06 2026

The CFPB has finalized revisions to its small-business lending data rule to scale back the scope of data collection, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

The CFPB released a final rule in 2023 to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires financial institutions to report data on small-business lending. Several lawsuits followed, including one brought by the Texas Bankers Association and ABA, which resulted in a stay of the mandatory compliance dates for members of the associations pending the outcome of the case.

Last year, the CFPB proposed a new streamlined rule in response to legal challenges. The finalized rule to be published on May 8, 2026, adopts “a narrower scope to ensure its quality and to limit, as much as possible, any disturbance of the provision and availability of credit to small businesses,” according to the notice. “The statutory purposes of the rule are not well served by an expansive rule that could create disruptions in small business lending markets.”

Among the changes, the final rule:

Raises the origination threshold for which institutions are covered from 100 to 1,000 credit transactions for each of two consecutive years.
Removes the following discretionary data points added by the 2023 final rule: Application recipient and method, denial reasons, pricing information and number of workers.
Excludes merchant cash advances, agricultural lending and small-dollar loans from the definition of covered credit transaction.
Excludes Farm Credit System lenders from coverage.
Decreases the gross annual revenue threshold in the rule’s definition of a small business from $5 million or less to $1 million or less.
Extends the rule’s compliance date provisions to Jan. 1, 2028, for all covered financial institutions.

To view the finalized rule, visit: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-08494.pdf