Bank Rating

Bank ratings are informal but standardized. A "Low 5" indicates an average daily balance in the low five figures ($5,000–$10,000) held consistently for the trailing 90 days. A "Mid 5" is $10,000–$40,000. A "High 5" is $40,000–$99,000. A "Low 6" starts at $100,000. Each tier maps to the size of credit facility the bank is willing to consider without escalating the file.

Consistency matters more than peak balance. A business that averaged $60,000 for two months and $2,000 for one month rates worse than a business that averaged $15,000 every month. Underwriters read the volatility as a sign of cash-flow management, not just scale.

NSF activity — even a single overdraft in the trailing 12 months — will drop a bank rating and, in most banks, force the file to a higher approval tier or a decline. This is why many otherwise fundable businesses get quietly rejected on a soft pull the borrower never sees.

Bank ratings are not portable. Every bank you deposit with holds its own rating on you, and lenders evaluating a file will ask which bank is the operating relationship and why. Setting up business banking correctly — right entity, right signer structure, right deposit discipline — from day one is the difference between having a rating that helps and having a rating that quietly disqualifies you.