By helping borrowers now, banks hope customers can quickly catch up on payments once the coronavirus pandemic ends. If they can’t, interest income will remain low and charge-offs could pile up if the crisis drags on.

A combination of digital and cloud capabilities, data gathering and regulatory experience should give smaller banks an edge over nonbanks.

Many banks were hitting their limits for lending to small businesses devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. They say the Fed's decisions to help fund additional loans and relax capital requirements will resolve many of their problems.

The agency overhauled its system for the Paycheck Protection Program on Wednesday. Lenders hope it addresses the access issues and a crash that bedeviled the effort’s first week.

Community advocates would like to see changes to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, but say regulators should suspend such efforts until the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

Pinnacle Bankshares and Virginia Bank Bankshares said the move will let each bank focus more on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spirit of Texas Bancshares named an interim CEO for Dean Bass, though the company said he is recovering.

Measures that delay the Current Expected Credit Losses standard and reduce a community bank capital ratio are temporary, but the industry now sees an opening to argue that they should be permanent.

The Small Business Administration said lenders approved $71 billion in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program in less than five days.

The Small Business Administration’s loan processing platform went down Monday for as long as four hours, temporarily halting the ability of lenders to process loans for small business owners seeking relief from the impact of the coronavirus.

The government should encourage community lenders to offer six-month loan repayment forbearances to struggling businesses before it’s too late.

For many small providers, the coronavirus pandemic means falling revenue and rising expenses, as many either shut their doors to new business or staff up to deal with COVID-19 patients. Bankers say that means helping them bridge the cash-flow gaps until they can get back to business as usual.

The central bank is creating a facility to provide financing to banks participating in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

After Congress temporarily lowered the leverage ratio used by smaller institutions, the federal agencies said they would allow a one-year transition before banks have to comply again with the regular standard.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that $349 billion will likely not be enough meet loan demand from small businesses seeking a lifeline to help them weather the economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.

While the federal government is touting the early success of the Paycheck Protection Program, community banks are complaining about headaches and glitches.

The $5.9 billion-asset Liberty Bank in Middletown had set aside $5 million to make small-dollar loans to customers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed Agility Bank would rely heavily on digital offerings. It is pursing a national charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Lenders can offer deferred payments and capitalize on digital banking to help small businesses and consumers get back on their feet.

The pandemic may force the Small Business Administration to rely more on fintechs and digital channels to hasten loan approvals, a shift that could stick.