Paycheck Protection Program

The bank told customers that it wasn't accepting new applications for the rescue loans because it was trying to work through a backlog of requests already in its pipeline.

Portal crashes, technology glitches, last-minute changes in guidance, renewed suspicions about loan dispersal: Meet the new Paycheck Protection Program, same as the old Paycheck Protection Program.

Community banks that have used the Paycheck Protection Program to help businesses ride out the coronavirus outbreak are looking to turn that goodwill into deeper loan and deposit relationships down the road.

Queued-up loans. Extra bankers. Government tweaks to promote fairness. None of these precautionary measures has been enough for the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program to avoid the pitfalls of the first.

As banks accept new applications for the paycheck program, they are dogged by complaints that they prioritized wealthy borrowers. But lenders likely fast-tracked clients they knew best under difficult circumstances, observers say.

The Small Business Administration's systems froze up shortly after the latest Paycheck Protection Program was launched Monday morning.

The latest version of the business lending initiative has $60 billion set aside for smaller lenders, including credit unions, but there are concerns the money will be allocated just as quickly this time as it was during the first round.

Lenders and small businesses are hoping this round goes more smoothly than the chaotic first one (and if it doesn't, Joe Biden warns, many mom-and-pop shops are done for); originators are adding staff, cutting marketing to handle massive uptick in refinance applications.

The billionaire investor and entrepreneur sees problems with small businesses having to apply for loans to get coronavirus relief. He says a more efficient approach would be to let them run negative balances on their bank accounts.

Lenders are being urged to prepare applications for the latest version of the Paycheck Protection Program.