CBA Statement On New SBA Initiative To Streamline PPP Loan Forgiveness
WASHINGTON – CBA President and CEO Richard Hunt today released the following statement in response to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) reported plans to conclude the nearly $1 trillion Paycheck Protection Program by encouraging borrowers with loans of $150,000 or less to apply for loan forgiveness through a new online platform:
“Today’s announcement signals the end of an important chapter in American banking. When COVID-19 forced small businesses to shut down, bankers went to work on behalf of their communities to administer one of the most successful emergency relief programs in American history, the Paycheck Protection Program, with the nation’s leading banks disbursing $405 billion – more than half of the total funds or 4.1 million forgivable loans extended – and ultimately helping to protect more than 90 million American jobs.
“Even after PPP funds were distributed, bankers worked tirelessly to assist small businesses with the burdensome and tedious loan forgiveness process. CBA is proud to have supported bankers in these efforts by leading a coalitionof more than 150 associations to successfully streamline the forgiveness process for loans less than $150,000, amounting to the equivalent of $7 billion of additional small business relief. With guidance from SBA, bankers have already completed the forgiveness process for 80 percent of the PPP loans disbursed in 2020.
“As the Paycheck Protection Program concludes, the creation of a new PPP forgiveness platform from the SBA will allow more small businesses to focus their time and resources on successfully reopening, while also providing lenders the choice to retain oversight of their customer relationships. CBA and its member banks are grateful to SBA and members in Congress who helped make this critical lifeline available for so many, and we look forward to working with them to ensure the success of this initiative and help heal the economic damage caused by this pandemic.”
Background
In 2020, CBA successfully led a coalition of more than 150 associations representing businesses, non-profits and lenders in calling on Congress to streamline PPP forgiveness to help the smallest businesses receiving PPP loans. This coordinated effort led Congress to pass legislation simplifying the forgiveness process for loans less than $150,000, amounting in the equivalent of $7 billion of additional small business relief.
Commending CBA for its efforts to streamline the PPP forgiveness process, Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD) said at CBA’s Washington Forum earlier this year:
“I want to thank CBA for your work on [streamlining forgiveness]. You showed us the practical problems, particularly of the smaller small businesses and dealing with the bureaucracy of getting the forgivable loan forgiven. […] We intended for those loans to be fully forgivable, under very easy terms for satisfying the use of the funds. But then we found that the SBA, in developing the form for the forgiveness, made it so complicated and so difficult that businesses were lined up for a long period of time and not getting the forgiveness. So, we did take action, thanks to your suggestion for a one-page form, particularly for those loans that were smaller in dollar amount so that we could get those forgivenesses done quickly, get them off the books, so that small businesses could get back to doing their business.”
To read Hunt’s statement following the successful inclusion of PPP forgiveness provisions in the COVID-19 stimulus legislation passed in March, click HERE.
To learn more about CBA’s efforts to streamline the PPP forgiveness process, click HERE.
Additional Resources
- OP-ED: CBA's Richard Hunt’s in RealClearMarkets: “When Our Country Needed Them Most, Banks Stepped Up to Serve”
- DATA POINTS: America’s Leading Banks: Supporting Small Businesses, Driving Economic Recovery Forward
- SATISFACTION SURVEY: New Report Finds Customer Satisfaction with Nation’s Leading Retail Banks Surges Amid COVID-19
