SBA Administrator Announces New PPP Milestone, 1 Million Borrowers Request Direct Discount

WASHINGTON – The US Small Business Administration takes a milestone as its Paycheck Protection Program Direct Borrower Forgiveness Portal registers its millionth PPP loan forgiveness request for borrowers requesting forgiveness on $ 150 loans. $ 000 or less.

“We are committed to keeping the promise of forgiveness for our eligible PPP borrowers. Our innovative Direct Forgiveness Portal is helping our PPP borrowers get back to doing what they do best, creating jobs and fueling our country’s economy, ”said Isabella Casillas Guzman, SBA Administrator. “With over a million request submissions, our direct forgiveness portal has already given many of our smaller businesses the ability to quickly and smoothly request a forgiveness and move forward with their rebuilding. and their recovery. I encourage eligible PPP borrowers who have not yet applied to visit SBA.gov or contact their lender today.

Since the portal launched on August 4, the SBA has received relief requests of more than $ 17 billion from more than one million of America’s smallest businesses, bolstering President Biden’s commitment to fairness across the US government. In less than 45 days, 91% of all loans eligible for direct remittance in the 2020 PPP portfolio were submitted, demonstrating the SBA’s effectiveness in providing relief to entrepreneurs who suffered during the height of the pandemic. In addition, the number of lenders participating in direct forgiveness more than doubled from 600 when the portal opened to more than 1,400.

In addition, significant progress has been made on PPP 2021 loans with 65% of all loans eligible for direct discount already submitted. The SBA has also been able to streamline the process for those who are not eligible for direct forgiveness by using the COVID Health score, which eliminates the need to provide lenders with overwhelming paperwork and serve over 600,000 borrowers to date. .

With the introduction of the new PPP Direct Forgiveness Portal, the SBA streamlined application processes to refocus the user experience around small business owners, a priority for Administrator Guzman. Today, a borrower from a participating lender can now complete most or all of a forgiveness request using a computer or, for the first time, their smartphone. On average, users can complete and submit their requests directly to the SBA in just six minutes, and most receive their forgiveness decisions within a week of the date of submission.

Eligible interested borrowers can access the portal from the SBA website https://directforgiveness.sba.gov. Borrowers who need assistance with their forgiveness requests or have questions can contact the PPP Customer Service team by calling (877) 552-2692, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. .

Borrowers whose loans are made through banks that have chosen not to enroll in the SBA Direct Discount Portal should request a discount through their lender.

Submitted by the US Small Business Association.