BMO Debuts Lending Program for Native-Owned Businesses

BMO has launched BMO for Native-owned Businesses, expanding the banks’ investments in lending to minority-owned businesses to include Native American entrepreneurs.

The program — launched on National Indigenous Peoples Day — is part of its $5 billion project to support “an inclusive economic recovery for minority businesses, communities and families through lending, investing, giving and engagement in local communities,” the Chicago financial services company said in a news release Tuesday (Oct. 11).

Native CDFI Network (NCN), an organization that helps Native American communities get more access to capital and financial services, is working with BMO to launch the program, according to the release.

“At the heart of Native CDFI Network’s (NCN) work is economic justice for Native people through access to capital and basic financial services,” said NCN Interim CEO Pete Upton in the release. “This newly formed partnership between NCN and BMO will more directly connect small business owners with Native CDFIs and, in turn, strengthen financial inclusion of Native people.”

The program lets Native American small- to medium-sized business (SMB) owners and entrepreneurs receive loans of up to $50,000 for capital investments such as equipment, inventory, payroll and lease payments — as well as short-term receivable financing, the release stated.

Eligible borrowers must have a physical operating location or headquarters in BMO’s retail banking markets, annual revenue of $10 million or less, and be 51% owned or controlled by people who identify as Native American, according to the release.

The announcement comes one week after Amazon announced the debut of a program to support entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities with venture capital (VC) funding.

Read more: Amazon $150M Capital Fund Targets Minority-Run Startups

The Catalytic Capital initiative will invest $150 million into VC funds, accelerators, incubators and venture studios that support entrepreneurs from marginalized environments, primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages of VC funding.