Are you having trouble finding a bank or lender to help you file your application for the Paycheck Protection Program? Here are some useful alternatives to your local banks and credit unions.
Payroll Protection Program Update: Loan Applications
When the government authorized the Payroll Protection Program loan as part of the CARES Act, it was certainly done with good intentions: to get money into the hands of business owners rapidly. They enlisted banks to help them distribute these funds. Unfortunately, many banks and credit unions have resorted to self interested behavior which is not exactly in alignment with the government’s mission to help as many people as possible. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of the giant mega banks refusing to help even their own customers unless they had some pre-existing loan.
PPP Which Banks Will Help? Where to Apply?
I’m sad to report that even many small, local banks and credit unions are now following the lead of the larger banks. These smaller institutions are now refusing to serve you unless you had a business account prior to February 15th or March 27th, the date that the CARES Act was signed into law. I want to make sure that you see the distinction between not having an account and not having a business account. Many customers are not being allowed to apply for the PPP at their own institutions simply because they have a personal account rather than a business one.
Under the CARES ACT, there is in fact no requirement that a business run it’s money through a business account. You can certainly say that it would be good practice to do so, but that is not a requirement under the law and specifically, not under the Paycheck Protection Program. Your local bank and credit union executives have made a calculated decision to hang many of their customers out to dry. The vast majority of them are even stating that if you open up a business account now, then they are still unwilling to help you.
Payroll Protection Program No business Checking Account
I’m not surprised that banks would do this. They have a history of self interested behavior and must answer to the business owners. I’m totally stunned that credit unions would refuse to help their loyal customers, who are in fact owners of the credit union. If you fit within that category where your local credit union is refusing to serve you as it relates to the PPP, then I strongly suggest that you escalate your comments to the highest level of that organization.
That is an absence of leadership. One could understand if they stated that they would prioritize their existing business customers first, but to refuse to help a shareholder is a poorly calculated decision. It’s relatively easy to get the names of the executives. Reach out to them on Twitter, social media and LinkedIn. Let them know how you feel about this decision. Contact your local newspaper and let them know what is going on. This works particularly well if you’re in a smaller community. Do not allow them to pretend to be standing up for their community while they are making conscious decisions to not assist when they could.
You also may want to reach out to your Congressman to make it clear that they need to modify how banks are allowed to “help” during this time. If the goal is to help as many people as possible, then other, more flexible avenues are needed.
PPP List of Banks & Newly Approved Online Lenders
To that end, there are a few new developments that should be able to assist the majority of people to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program. They’ve given authorization for several online platforms to serve as basically middlemen. They don’t charge you any money and they are basically serving as brokers to connect people to lenders that have money to lend.
Here is a short list of Paycheck protection program banks and lenders to process your online application:
Paypal and Intuit QuickBooks have been approved and Square is likely to soon follow. Paypal will initially service their existing merchant account holders. Of note, Intuit can process payroll information which you will need in order to get approval from lenders.
If you don’t want to go this route, then contact your regional SBA office www.sba.gov then go to their list of local resources to see approved lenders for the Payroll Protection Program.
Paycheck Protection Program Running Out of Money
Do your research, but act fast. There is a limited amount of money and many people involved at high levels are saying that the initial $349 Billion for the PPP may run out as early as late next week. While Congress is as we speak attempting to authorize additional funding, there has been no concrete progress on that front.
If your bank has been misbehaving, or you simply don’t have a bank account, then hopefully you’ve found the information helpful. Good luck. Please leave me a comment if you know of any other opportunities to help people complete their loan application for the Paycheck Protection Program.
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Thanks so much for reading.
Dale
www.visionshaperconsulting.com