Small banks with less than $1 billion in assets and non-banks have lent 21% of all Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans issued in round two of the program thus far.
That's according to recent data put out by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department, which provides a detailed look at how the first $175 billion of round two has been disbursed, as of May 1.
The total round will disburse $310 billion in PPP funds when it is complete, and follows an initial round that disbursed roughly $350 billion in just two weeks.
Small banks and non-banks -- which include community development financial institutions, certified development companies, micro-lenders, farm credit lenders and fintechs -- have issued 465,590 loans of the more than 2.2 million loans issued in round two.
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While they have issued 21% of total loans, small banks and non-banks have only issued about 15% of the total dollar amount, primarily because these lenders are likely working with the smallest of businesses.
Following round one of the PPP, critics argued that too much of the PPP funding was going to larger businesses that did not really need it.
To assist small community lenders and ensure their small business customers had access, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza recently designated an eight-hour window where the SBA only accepted loan applications from lenders with under $1 billion in assets.
Overall, lenders over $50 billion in assets still disbursed 53% of the $175 billion doled out in round two. Banks between $10 billion and $50 billion in assets have disbursed 16% of the funds, while banks under $10 billion in assets have distributed 32%.
