: Many institutions feared that redirecting borrowers to a third-party portal late in the game would cause communication problems or confusion.
Lenders provided several strategic and operational reasons for maintaining their own processes:
: Banks were leery of relying on an agency that had struggled with buggy or overloaded technology systems earlier in the pandemic. : Many institutions feared that redirecting borrowers to
At least three of the program's largest lenders originally decided not to participate in the SBA’s direct portal:
: By late 2021, lenders representing only about half of all outstanding PPP loan forgiveness applications had opted into the SBA portal. Current Status Current Status : Having already spent significant resources
: Having already spent significant resources building custom portals, large banks found it more efficient to maintain their current workflows.
: The top PPP lender by volume encouraged customers to use its own platform, citing that over 80% of its 2020 loan recipients had already achieved forgiveness through their internal system. While banks may still use their internal systems,
As of March 2024, the SBA updated its policy to require all lenders to process applications received through the SBA Direct Forgiveness Portal . While banks may still use their internal systems, they must now also accept applications submitted via the government’s direct platform. Banks Are Opting Out of a PPP Loan Forgiveness Process