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NerdWallet Faces Headwinds in SMB Lending, but Renewal Growth and Vertical Integration Show Promise

NerdWallet SMB lending stayed under pressure in Q3 2024, but small business revenue grew 12% on renewals even as search traffic weakened.

By Larry Reid

News · · Updated Oct 22, 2026 · 2 min read

Browser window showing the NerdWallet small-business loans page with the Fundera by NerdWallet logo

Renewals kept NerdWallet’s small business line growing in the third quarter of 2024, management said on its October 29 earnings call, while the market for fresh SMB loan originations stayed under strain. Revenue from SMB products was about $28 million (deBanked reports $27.8 million), up 12% on the year, inside a company total of $191 million, up 25%. Credit cards fell 16% and loans fell 28%.

Renewals carry the quarter

CFO Lauren St. Clair described continuing strain on originations of SMB loans, with high rates and strict underwriting. Growth in repeat business more than made up for it, she said, evidence for the company’s decision to own more of the customer relationship and for how often this kind of customer returns when served with extra attention. CEO Tim Chen called the environment for SMB loans tough and said Fundera’s renewals book, where the small business operation began, did well regardless.

Search is the second story

Monthly unique users averaged 22 million, 7% fewer than a year earlier. Chen said visibility in search deteriorated once the Q2 call ended. Traffic for commercial, shopping-style pages slid in August and September and recovered in October to a point slightly above the Q2-call level. Educational pages kept sliding through the quarter and settled lower. He blamed search engines inserting their own answers, such as AI Overviews, and warned that Q4 will absorb a whole quarter of that pressure, slowing user growth further.

Chen reported a 12% NGOI margin for Q3 (the term used on the call) and said it shows the brand and other channels are holding up. St. Clair added that more than 70% of traffic still arrives through organic or unpaid routes.

Earlier, in August, deBanked had covered Chen’s remarks on the Q2 call, where he cited a major search algorithm update that hurt NerdWallet’s search advertising and, less so, its traffic.

Reading the numbers

The explanations all come from NerdWallet’s management. The sources give no split between renewals and new originations within the SMB total.

Sources

About the author

Larry Reid

Larry Reid covers merchant cash advance and alternative lending markets for The Fund Scope, from lender strategy and new entrants to the policy shifts that move the industry.