Bank of America said Friday it is now capable of accepting online applications for the government's $350 billion small business relief program, becoming the first major bank to do so.
As of mid-morning New York time, none of the websites of the three other big U. S. banks — JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo or Citigroup — were accepting applications for the program, which was supposed to go live shortly after midnight. In fact, Wells Fargo announced that it will be unable to accept applications on Friday.
Bank of America's portal went live at about 9 am ET Friday. Within an hour, the bank had 10,000 applications for loans, CEO Brian Moynihan said Friday on CNBC.
The chaotic launch heightened fears among business owners that they could miss out on the historic program if lenders manage to disburse all $350 billion of the money. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said he would request more money if that happened, but that would require Congressional approval.
The U. S. government has asked banks to help it dole out at least $350 billion in loans to small businesses, part of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill signed last week. But banks and industry groups have complained that they lacked the guidance to get online systems up and running until just hours before the deadline. That guidance was finally issued by Treasury around 7 p.m. Thursday, leaving banks scrambling to get their systems to accept loan applications.
"Having just received guidance outlining how to implement a $349 billion program literally hours before it starts, we would ask for everyone to be patient," Richard Hunt, head of the Consumer Bankers Association, said late Thursday. He added that the organization's members would "move heaven and earth to get a system in place and running to help America's small businesses and the millions of men and women who work at them.
Even at Bank of America, there was confusio... (Read more)
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