Trump administration secures help from private sector for small businesses

White House press release:

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CALLS ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND DELIVERS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

After calling on the private sector to step-up for small businesses, the Trump administration delivers major commitments from these public-private partnerships.

Goldman Sachs Deliverable:
• Commits to $500 million in capital and critical infrastructure to Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), to help small business.
• Goldman Sachs will provide grant dollars to CDFI partners. This will enable CDFIs to hire necessary staff, onboard technologies and quickly set up other operational needs to successfully provide loans to small businesses.

Bank of America Deliverable:
• Commits $250 million in capital and $10 million in philanthropic grants to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). These investments will expand access to capital to more small businesses and not-for-profits Announces additional support for consumer and small business clients experiencing hardship from the impact of COVID-19.
• Commits $100 million in support of communities around the world impacted by coronavirus pandemic.

JP Morgan Chase Deliverable:
• Announcing $150 million program to help community partners receive capital for underserved small businesses and nonprofits, focusing on underserved entrepreneurs including women and minority owners and the hardest hit communities.
• JP Morgan Chase continues to lend money in the communities where they do business, lending $39.4 billion since the crisis began in February.
• JP Morgan Chase announced $50 million in philanthropic support to address the immediate public health and long-term economic challenges for small business and communities from COVID-19.
• In addition to helping hundreds of thousands of small business customers receive access to the Paycheck Protection Program loans, JP Morgan Chase has also provided other relief such as payment deferrals and fee waivers on credit lines, loans, business credit cards and checking accounts.

Wells Fargo Deliverable:
• Will not charge any late fees on accounts requesting assistance or report past-due status for up to 90 days, and has also temporarily stopped all foreclosure-related activity and eviction for small business customers with loans in our lending portfolio.
• The Wells Fargo Foundation has committed $175 million to support non-profits at the federal, state, and local levels helping people impacted by COVID-19. Including $10 million to support small businesses.
• $2 million of which will focus on the deployment of flexible capital in collaboration with Opportunity Fund and will also provide immediate cash boosts and financial coaching support of entrepreneurs and their low-wage workers in coordination with SaverLife.

Citibank Deliverable:
• Citi commits to issue waivers on monthly service fees and remote deposit capture, and waive penalties for early CD withdrawals.
• Citi commits to suspended foreclosures and evictions for 60 days through its subservicer Cenlar and is providing forbearance programs for student loans through its subservicer Firstmark.
• Citi has also made Small Business bankers available after hours and on weekends for support and have engaged hundreds of small business clients to help assess their needs and deliver critical financial solutions.
• Participating in the Small Business Administration’s newly launched Paycheck Protection Program.

Visa Deliverable:
• The Visa Foundation is committed to two programs totaling $210 million to support small and micro businesses, aligning with the Foundation’s long-term focus on women’s economic advancement and inclusive economic development, and to address an urgent need from local communities following the spread of COVID-19.
• The second program is a five-year, strategic $200 million commitment to support small and micro businesses around the world, with a focus on fostering women’s economic advancement.
• Through the $200 million small and micro business program, the Visa Foundation will provide $60 million in grants to NGOs dedicated to supporting small and micro business owners, many of whom are women, in every region where Visa operates. The Visa Foundation will also allocate $140 million with investment partners that generate positive social and financial returns for small and micro businesses.

Mastercard Deliverable:
• Committing $250 million over the next 5 years to small businesses in the United States and other markets where Mastercard operates, supporting the financial security and vitality of businesses and their workers.
• Offer free cyber vulnerability assessments and identity theft protection over the next three months to any of the eligible 28 million small businesses, as well as their 57 million employees, who participate in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program.
• Commit to offering free Local Market Intelligence™ solutions, providing insights into local consumer spend patterns, leveraging MasterCard’s anonymized data, to the millions of small businesses that accept MasterCard.

Grand Rapids State Bank Deliverable:
• Modifying loan terms to create a period of interest only payments.
• Modifying loans by deferring payments for up to six months, creating a period of time where there is total temporary relief from payments.
• Created a #CommunityStrong campaign to raise awareness of various local businesses each week and then give away gift cards to area residents to that week’s featured local businesses. Provide lunch to in-office staff at all locations from local restaurants on Fridays each week.

Community Spirit Bank Deliverable:
• Committed to 90-day payment deferral programs for anyone affected by the virus, allowing for deferment of both principal and interest for these customers on any affected loan.
• CEO Brad Bolton issued a video to the customer base to assure them they would still have access to all banking services, just on a more limited basis and gave out his personal cell phone number, email and direct dial.
• CSB has continued to assure its local deposit base of the strength of not only its community bank, but community banking in general, all backed by the FDIC, which has never lost a single depositor’s money since it was founded in 1933.