Congress approved the CARES Act on March 27 which included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The effort provides cash-flow assistance through 100% federally guaranteed and forgivable loans to employers who maintain their payroll during this emergency.

As of April 16, the initial round of PPP funded loans had run out. While Congress works to approve an additional round of funding to the program, time is critical for credit unions to prepare to rapidly support their small business customers to process these loans once they become available again. With funds available on a first-come, first-served basis, the administration of these loans has taken center stage.

Many institutions are not set up with the Small Business Administration authorization or the modern digital lending tools and services required to process funds as instantly as business owners demand.

NYMBUS set up the SmartLenders Program to break down these barriers and help make the PPP loans process simple, straightforward and fast for participating credit unions and banks.

SmartLenders allows financial institutions to process a high volume of loans with no changes to their systems or additional work required for their personnel. At no cost or liability to participate in the program, NYMBUS provides a link to an online portal to automatically process the credit union’s small-business customers’ applications for PPP loans.

SmartLenders will process requests, collect required documents, perform all required underwriting and provide an SBA-ready application with all supporting documentation. After the institution funds the loan, NYMBUS will provide a weekly report of all PPP loans originated through the credit union and will follow up on the new SBA forgiveness process.

Per SBA guidance, lenders will be held 100% harmless if they rely on the documentation provided by the applicant. SmartLenders has a full team of SBA-experienced banking and legal experts to manage the process and ensure adherence with all banking and SBA compliance requirements.

Credit unions wishing to join forces with NYMBUS to help small businesses through this program should contact nymbusmgmt@nymbus.com.