Marketplace Lending Firms Funding Circle (LSE: FCH) announced on Friday It introduced a pre-application system for small business owners interested in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program, offered by the US Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is available Part of the $ 2 trillion CARES bill, which aims to get small business owners back on their feet and get millions of Americans back to work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding Circle noted that its account managers will be contacting small business owners interested in the loans as early as 90 minutes after signing up and working with them to prepare their application for access to funds once Funding Circle is approved under the program to rent.
Speaking of the pre-application system, Bernardo Martinez, Managing Director of Funding Circle US, stated that the pre-application system will allow many small business owners to get the funding they need once fintech lenders are officially admitted to the program.
Together with Funding Circle, Lendio announced applications for the paycheck protection program. The online lender revealed sShopping center business owners can apply directly through the lender portal and will be connected to one of the approved financiers in Lendio’s extensive network of banks, credit unions and fintech lenders. In response to the request, Brock Blake, CEO and Co-Founder of Lendio stated:
“We know that time is of the essence at this point. Small businesses urgently need relief, and we want to offer them this as efficiently as possible. “
Blake also took to Twitter to criticize the lack of coordination between the US Treasury Department and the SBA. Blake specifically described the process as “a mess” and stated that the situation is a “power struggle” leading to disaster. Regarding the process, Blake tweeted the “SBA and Treasury Department need to end the power struggle, coordinate, provide REAL guidance (to ALL lenders, business owners and agents) so … … we can get their hands on much-needed capital from SMEs, who are suffering right now! “
