The U.S. Small Business Administration wants to increase the number of small-dollar loans that it guarantees, and a new partnership with the nation’s credit unions could help the agency do just that.

SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet and Debbie Matz, board chairwoman of the National Credit Union Administration, recently signed a memorandum of understanding. The two groups will work together to publicize the SBA loans that are available through credit unions.

“A unique aspect of the SBA and NCUA partnership is that SBA small-dollar loans do not count against credit unions’ business loan cap, so they are well suited to expanding access to these loans,” Contreras-Sweet said. “This provides flexibility to credit unions to distribute small-dollar loans, increasing access to capital to local economies and enriching the entrepreneurial communities which credit unions serve.”

In the past four years, credit unions have seen the total outstanding balance of their SBA loans grow from $810 million to $1.2 billion.

Matz believes that number could grow even larger. After all, the average age of a credit union member is 47 years old, and people age 50 and older make up the fastest-growing group of business owners.

“There is a vast untapped capacity for credit unions to make more SBA loans,” Matz said. “This initiative will help us unlock that capacity and put it to work for credit unions, their members and their communities.”