Commercial Banks and PPP loan. The fix was in?



While I am grateful to be healthy and safe, I am increasingly concerned about finances. I applied for a ppp loan through my bank Chase. Chase is a large commercial bank and I do all my banking there.  I erroneously believed that my loyalty would be rewarded in difficult times. A colleague has an account at Chase but he also maintains a business and credit line with M&T bank which is smaller and more community based. He applied through M&T for his ppp loan and was funded. My application was initially rejected by Chase but  after 4-5 days of sustained effort I was able to make my application. Good right?

Not so good. My application is pending and I was informed that all the funding has run out. In addition I received a follow up email informing me that I am in a queue waiting for a second round of expected funding but I should keep in mind that there are over 100,000 pending applications ahead of me. Their emails do not sound encouraging.

My cynical side has a  suspicion that Chase was in no hurry to process their small business PPP loan applications and may have given priorities to much larger "small businesses". It turns out that I might be on the right track since  according to an article in the Wall Street JournalJPMorgan Chase JPM -3.65% & Co. issued more than $115 million in forgivable loans to at least two dozen publicly traded companies, according to SEC filings. "  

Shame on you Chase for not taking care of your small customers! I believe that I will have to start another account with another smaller bank like M&T that may  treat their smaller small business clients more fairly than Chase.

When I mentioned this to my accountant  (He has an account with M&T) he tried to cheer me up "Citibank was even worse". That didn't make me feel better. . While there has been a lot of talk by large companies "being there for us in these troubled time" actions speak louder than words!  I am extremely disappointed  and will think about making changes when things normalize .

The Wall Street Jounal article  seems to lend credence to my feelings. It reports that "The small businesses that received aid under the federal government's $350 Billion rescue program weren't always the ones with the greatest needs or the best chance to survive the coronavirus pandemic. whether a firm made the cut often came down to how and where it banked"

Ironically, reading that article actually made me feel better, since it's clear that  I am not that paranoid and certainly not alone. Millions of us are suffering financially because of business closures and are dealing with the fact that not  all the help promised is forthcoming.

Most of the people I know are worried. Almost every day I get calls from colleagues who are worried and seem perversely reassured that I am worried too (misery loves company). Fortunately for me I have other activities to distract me. My day is spent attending Zoom classes at NYU Dental School, talking on the phone with friends and cooking  with whatever ingredients we have for preparing meals. I am suer that If we stay safe (and sane), this too shall pass, but rest assured although I may forgive, I will not forget.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2020/04/commercial-banks-and-ppp-loan-fix-is-in.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Help! My Child is Terrified of the Dentist

Going for the Gold?

Lemon Juice – The Good, the Bad, & the Sour