By mid-morning of only the second day since the loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) began, Bank of America reported that over 122,000 small business clients have already applied for the program, totaling over $27B in loans.
Bank of America has also expanded the process to include all current business account holders, irrespective of whether they also have a loan or credit card account. Their website shows the following eligibility requirements as of today. “To be eligible, you must have a Small Business lending and Small Business checking relationship with Bank of America as of February 15, 2020 or a Small Business checking account open no later than February 15, 2020 and do not have a business credit or borrowing relationship with another bank.“
Senator Marco Rubio had urged the bank yesterday to expand the program to all account holders, after there were complaints about the BOA program not being inclusive for all its customers. This morning, he was pleased to see the progress.
The Paycheck Protection Program is a federal relief program established by Congress and implemented by the U.S. Treasury Department and the SBA with rules, requirements, protocols and processes that all participating banks must follow.