Since the opening of the Paycheck Protection Program Direct Borrower Forgiveness Portal, the SBA has received more than 340,000 submissions from borrowers with PPP loans of $150,000 or less, the agency announced on Wednesday.
On average, users submit their applications in six minutes and receive their forgiveness decisions within a week from the date of submission, according to the SBA. Of the 340,000 applications submitted through the portal, half have currently been approved for full or partial forgiveness, totaling more than $2.4 billion, the SBA stated.
The forgiveness platform began accepting applications from borrowers on Aug. 4, with lenders required to opt in to the program through the SBA’s PPP Direct Forgiveness Portal. Borrowers may still submit applications through portal, and the SBA is encouraging interested borrowers to attend an upcoming live webinar and Q&A session via Microsoft Teams regarding the process. Dates include:
• Aug. 26 at 2:30 p.m.; and
Established by the CARES Act in 2020, the PPP was among the first COVID-19 small business economic aid programs and provided more than $798 billion in economic relief to small businesses and nonprofits across the nation.