SBA

The number of Paycheck Protection Program loans to U.S. small businesses more than doubled in the third week of the latest round of pandemic relief aid, as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase each processed more than $1 billion in funding.

Businesses owned by minorities and women got a head start this week in a new round of $284 billion funding, and early anecdotal evidence suggests stronger demand coming from these businesses.

First Bank in New Jersey, Northeast Bank in Maine and others have warmed to the idea of using software to streamline Paycheck Protection Program lending so that employees can be more hands-on with customers.

The pace of forgiveness for Paycheck Protection Program loans is expected to accelerate when the Small Business Administration issues guidance on additional steps meant to streamline the process.

President-elect Joe Biden picked California official Isabel Casillas Guzman to lead the Small Business Administration, according to people familiar with the decision.

The new legislation includes a provision sparing lenders from having to pay such fees on Paycheck Protection Program loans, except in cases where they agree in advance with borrower representatives to do so.

Lenders want Congress to bring back incentives used during the last recession, such as bigger subsidies and reduced fees, to jump-start participation in the Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) program.

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and others cut back on 7(a) lending to focus on originating Paycheck Protection Program loans. Smaller banks such as Live Oak and Byline gained market share by targeting niche industries and originating bigger loans.

Credit is tightening to 2008 levels at a time when small businesses need help the most, former SBA chief Karen Gordon Mills says.

A Small Business Administration program meant to help struggling entrepreneurs amid the coronavirus pandemic may have sent billions of dollars to scammers or ineligible applicants, the agency’s inspector general said.