Newsroom

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that lenders with less than $1 billion in assets will be able to submit paycheck protection program (PPP) applications starting tomorrow. All other lenders will gain access to the program Tuesday, Jan. 19.

“NAFCU appreciates the SBA and the Treasury Department for granting smaller lenders with less than $1 billion in assets dedicated, early access to the PPP loan portal,” said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger in response to the announcement. “However, NAFCU supports a dedicated processing windows for all credit unions so that our nation's smallest, hardest hit businesses, including many from underserved communities, quickly receive the financial support they need to recover from the pandemic.

“Credit unions can and will continue to put their members first, and they stand ready to help our nation emerge from this crisis stronger than ever before,” concluded Berger.

The program reopened Monday; community financial institutions – including minority depository institutions (MDIs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs) – can currently submit first-draw and second-draw PPP loan applications.

In addition, the SBA released new data regarding its forgiveness of PPP loans, revealing that it has forgiven more than 1.1 million in program loans, with 88 percent of loans under $50,000 forgiven. A total of 1.3 million forgiveness applications for PPP loans have been received by the SBA, which total $170.5 billion; the SBA began processing forgiveness applications Oct. 2.

PPP borrowers can submit a loan forgiveness application at any point before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two years or five years from loan origination. After the 10-month deferment period, borrowers must begin making payments on the loan if they have not yet applied for forgiveness.

There are three forgiveness applications: A standard one, an EZ version for borrowers meeting certain criteria, and a simplified version for loans under $50,000. The SBA has also announced that they will be providing a new simplified forgiveness application for loans under $150,000.

According to SBA data through the program's initial authorization of Aug. 8, it has provided more than 5 million loans to small businesses for roughly $525 billion dollars. The recently enacted Economic Aid Act provided $284.5 billion to reopen and strengthen the PPP.

Access NAFCU's PPP FAQs here.