The SBA is tweaking its loan process. Here's what businesses can expect -- including higher fees.

The Small Business Administration has rolled out what it says are new anti-fraud measures for its loan programs. It's the latest in a series of changes the agency has made this year under the Trump administration.

The new loan procedures were put in place with what the SBA says is help from the Department of Government Efficiency — the well-known Elon Musk-led effort that has drawn criticism for its often heavy-handed approach to slashing federal costs and demands for access to critical systems and personal information.

The new measures include:

Citizenship verification: All SBA loan applications now include a citizenship verification provision to ensure legal, eligible applicants can access SBA programs. Lenders are required to confirm that applicant businesses are not owned in whole or in part by an undocumented immigrant.
Date-of-birth verification: All SBA loan applications now include a process to verify applicant age and date of birth. This provision will mitigate fraud stemming from applicants using an identity other than their own, including those of children or the deceased, according to the SBA.
Automatic fraud alerts: SBA’s date-of-birth verification process will automatically flag any applicant claiming to be younger than 18 or older than 115 years of age.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/04/11/sba-changes-to-loan-applications.html