As the credit crisis moves into its second year, alternative lenders are moving to fill a gap left as banks tighten their lending policies.

In July, about 65 percent of U.S. banks said they had tightened their lending standards on commercial and industrial loans to small companies, up from 50 percent in April, according to a Federal Reserve survey.

“Many small businesses are saying ‘why can’t you finance my XYZ piece of equipment?’” said Tyler McCarty, a former Bank of the West branch manager who recently opened a Wirth Business Credit franchise in Littleton. “The bank says, ‘well, it’s not a piece of equipment we want, we’ve tightened up our lending standards, and unfortunately you just don’t fit into the box.’”

Wirth Business Credit, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Winmark Corp., is one company that aims to capitalize on current conditions.

At the end of the second quarter, there were 56 Wirth Business Credit franchises operating across the country, up from 41 at the end of 2007.

Winmark also owns the secondhand retail franchises Play It Again Sports, Once Upon a Child, Music Go Round and Plato’s Closet.

The economic downturn has been good for used-merchandise sellers: Earnings for Winmark (NYSE: WINA) rose more than 75 percent in the first half of 2008, to $1.8 million.

The company is using the cash flow to expand Wirth Business Credit, which offers financing and leasing to small and midsized businesses, or those with revenue of $1 million to $20 million. Deals typically range from $5,000 to $300,000.

McCarty said he’s done four business financing deals since July. He’s been tapping former banking contacts, trying to pick up business they aren’t able to do.

“I tell them, ‘if you can’t finance something for one of your customers, I’m not competition, and maybe I can get it done,’” McCarty said. “I’m not looking for their customers’ deposits.”

Dallas-based TransFirst Holdings, which employs 550 people in Louisville and just opened a telesales facility in Aurora, recently signed a deal with AdvanceMe Inc. to provide merchant cash advances to its 160,000 clients.

The asset-based lending industry grew 11 percent in 2007, reaching $545 billion in outstanding loans, even as the overall credit market deteriorated in the second half of the year, according to the Commercial Finance Association in New York.

Asset-based lending encompasses many types of financing, including secured lending, factoring and equipment leasing. It can be more expensive than traditional bank loans.