CUNA joined other financial services trade organizations Tuesday calling for the Small Business Administration to take immediate action to improve E-TRAN, the platform for all Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application submissions. The PPP began accepting applications for its second round of funds Monday, but high demand led to the portal being temporarily shut down.

“Our members know millions of small businesses are depending on the PPP program to weather the economic effects of this pandemic and banks and credit unions of all sizes are working around the clock to get assistance in the hands of small businesses across the country,” reads a joint statement from the organizations. “Unfortunately, lenders continue to have significant problems submitting loan applications into the SBA’s system, preventing them from delivering this critical financial assistance to small businesses that desperately need it.

“We urge the SBA and Treasury to be transparent about these limitations to help manage expectations for small businesses, to increase communications with the banks and credit unions tasked with implementing this vital program, and to fix the E-TRAN processing system to allow financial institutions to get these important funds into the hands of small businesses and their employees,” it adds. ““The sooner this program functions properly is the sooner small businesses are able to receive the assistance they critically need.” 

Credit unions processed tens of thousands of loans under the first round of PPP funding, with an average of $64,000 per loan.