Chambers of Commerce Partner with Customers Bank to Help Black Businesses
Get Access to PPP
National News - Many Black-owned small businesses were denied during the first round of the Small Business
Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). According to Unidos US, only 8% of Black-owned
businesses received the aid they requested during the first round. At the same time, many large companies
were able to secure PPP loans, despite having the financial means to survive.
Customers Bank, however, is attempting to level the playing field. Customers Bank offers a PPP white-label
solution that enables chambers of commerce and other financial institutions a seamless platform. This enables
members of these organizations to access an online PPP application, funding, and servicing lifeline. This
partnership creates a one-stop-shop for small businesses that couldn’t get funding in the first round of PPP.
Miguel Alban, senior vice president, and director of Multicultural Banking for Customers Bank, told Black
Enterprise, “Unfortunately, last year, many minority small business owners were left out and were not able to
secure a PPP loan. We at Customers Bank have a division that focuses on multicultural markets and we were
able to help as many as we could, regardless if they were a current customer or not and regardless of the loan
size.”
Misinformation, lack of information, and lack of capital have been major obstacles for Black-owned businesses
during the pandemic. While this partnership provides a solution for these businesses, it will only work if people
know about it.
Customers Bank, a top-5 ranked PPP lender, has participated in over 100,000 SBA-approved PPP loans with
an aggregate value of over $5 billion. The bank also has the second-lowest average loan size of the nation’s
major PPP lenders. This means many small businesses that couldn’t get loans with the big banks could get
smaller loans through this partnership.
Alban added, “This time, we decided to take it one step further and partner with