PayPal, Intuit QuickBooks approved to hand out emergency funds to small businesses in coronavirus program
Published Fri, Apr 10 20209:48 PM EDTUpdated Sat, Apr 11 20201:18 AM EDT
Kate Rooney@Kr00ney
Key Points
• PayPal and Intuit are among the first non-bank, fintech companies to be approved for the Small Business Association’s emergency lending program.
• The companies, along with Square and other non-banks, have been pushing for fintech inclusion and say their tech-focused approach allows them to distribute emergency funds faster than banks.
The government $350 billion loan program is meant to keep businesses afloat amid an economic slowdown caused by the virus outbreak.
After weeks of lobbying, fintech companies are officially allowed to take part in the U.S. government’s emergency lending program.
PayPal and Intuit QuickBooks announced Friday evening that they were approved by the Small Business Administration to take part in the Paycheck Protection Program. The emergency government loans are meant to help small businesses survive the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
“This is a race to save jobs in the present and for the future,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said in a press release. “We are eager to deploy our capital and expertise to do our part in helping small businesses survive this challenging period.”
In addition to acting as a direct lender, Intuit QuickBooks said it would process payroll information, which small businesses need to pr