By Sheri Perkins, SVP & Chief Wealth Management Officer, Citadel Wealth Management
Across the country, women are reshaping local economies by founding and operating businesses at record rates and driving job creation across every sector. According to the National Women’s Business Council, women-owned businesses now make up 39.2% of all U.S. enterprises, employing 12.9 million people and generating nearly $3.3 trillion in annual revenue. Yet even as their economic influence grows, women continue to face disproportionate barriers when it comes to access to capital and financial support.
Credit unions, as not-for-profit, member-owned institutions, have a distinct structure that allows them to focus on relationships over transactions and long-term community growth over short-term profit. This model positions them to help address the systemic barriers that many women entrepreneurs continue to face.
Here are five ways credit unions are empowering women-owned businesses to succeed.
1. Lending That Looks Beyond the Algorithm
When it comes to small-business financing, algorithms don’t tell the full story.
The reasons women struggle to access capital are complex, but deeply systemic. On average, women earn less over their lifetimes, carry higher student loan balances, and have thinner credit histories than men. As a result, they often have slightly lower credit scores even when their repayment behavior is similar. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2024 Small Business Credit Survey, women-owned firms remain less likely than their male-owned counterparts to receive the full amount of financing they apply for and are more frequently denied due to credit scores, limited collateral, or shorter operating histories.
Traditional banks, which rely heavily on automated credit scoring and collateral requirements, can unintentionally perpetuate those inequities. Credit unions take a different approach. Their member-owned, mission-driven model allows for more holistic decision-making, evaluating business viability, community impact, and the owner’s financial plan rather than just a number on a report.
By incorporating qualitative factors such as business potential, industry experience, and community contributions, credit unions can make lending decisions that reflect the full picture of an entrepreneur’s capacity, not just their credit file. This approach encourages more inclusive lending and supports economic growth that reflects the diversity of local communities. This flexibility helps level the playing field for women business owners who may have strong businesses but less conventional financial profiles. By broadening how creditworthiness is defined, credit unions open the door to more inclusive lending and more equitable economic growth.
2. Local Roots That Strengthen Real-World Networks
For women founders, capital is crucial, but networks sustain growth. Because credit unions are community-based, they’re embedded in the same ecosystems where women-owned businesses operate.
Unlike large national banks that centralize decision-making, credit unions maintain close relationships with Chambers of Commerce, Women’s Business Enterprise Centers, and local small-business alliances. These partnerships connect women business owners to mentorship, education, and procurement opportunities are often otherwise out of reach.
In many cases, these networks help fill a gap in social capital. Women who may not have inherited professional networks or access to traditional business circles benefit from relationship-based financial institutions that can link them to education, mentorship, and community partnerships, all essential ingredients for long-term success.
3. Education That Builds Financial Confidence
Financial confidence is often the difference between ambition and expansion. Yet research consistently shows that female business owners express lower confidence in managing finances than men, despite comparable business performance.
Credit unions are closing that gap through education. Many offer free or low-cost programs on cash-flow management, credit readiness, and strategic planning, often in partnership with universities, small-business centers, or nonprofit organizations.
Financial education equips women with the knowledge to make informed decisions, plan for growth, and navigate risk. When women understand their numbers, they negotiate better, scale faster, and lead stronger businesses.
4. Relationships That Value the Owner, Not Just the Account
In my more than 30 years in the financial industry, I’ve sat in countless boardrooms where I was the only woman, and often the only Black woman, at the table. Those experiences taught me something fundamental: women don’t need special treatment; they need institutions that listen.
Credit unions are built for that kind of partnership. Their relationship-based model centers on understanding both the business and the person behind it—their goals, challenges, and long-term plans.
For female business owners, that means having a financial partner who can connect short-term needs with long-term strategy: by structuring lending that matches business cycles, designing savings plans that build resilience, and helping protect personal wealth while growing enterprise value. When the financial institution values the owner, not just the transaction, women business leaders can thrive with confidence and stability.
5. A Culture That Champions Collaboration and Community
Research from the American Psychological Association shows that women leaders are more likely to foster collaboration, inclusivity, and organizational commitment, traits that closely mirror the cooperative values at the heart of credit unions.
Through local sponsorships, mentorship programs, and leadership roundtables, credit unions create spaces where women can learn from one another and build the collective confidence to grow. Their emphasis on cooperation over competition mirrors how many women approach business leadership: as a network, not a hierarchy.
This culture sets credit unions apart from profit-driven institutions and ensures that progress for women-owned businesses translates into broader community prosperity.
Building a More Inclusive Future of Business
By 2030, women are projected to control more than $30 trillion in financial assets. That’s not just a shift in wealth, but a shift in influence. Ensuring female business owners have equitable access to capital, education, and mentorship isn’t only a matter of fairness; it’s an economic imperative.
Credit unions, with their cooperative structures and community roots, are built for that mission. By lending with empathy, fostering education, and investing in relationships, they’re helping women entrepreneurs and business owners lead the next generation of business growth.
When women-owned businesses thrive, communities prosper, and the financial system itself becomes stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient.