JPMorgan says it has $26 billion in small business relief applications that need funding

JPMorgan Chase says it has closed more small business relief loans than any other bank, but it still has a huge mountain of applications from business owners who are now in limbo. 

The bank has disbursed $14 billion in loans for the government’s $350 billion coronavirus relief effort, according to the company. But it has about $26 billion worth of applications from hundreds of thousands of business owners that could go forward if Congress secures more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, it said.

“Chase has secured more funding for small businesses than anyone else in the industry,” spokeswoman Trish Wexler said in a statement. “We’re fully prepared to help many, many more once additional funding is approved. We’re proud to support businesses that collectively employ more than a million hard working Americans.”

The PPP, a key component of the $2 trillion stimulus bill signed into law last month, has quickly been drained of its $350 billion allotment despite a rocky start. Major lenders like JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup have told applicants that the first-come, first-served effort is currently out of funding. Now Congress needs to come to an agreement to approve more money for the popular program.  

After technical snafus with the Small Business Administration portal for the program and other issues, banks have begun to disburse funds more quickly this week, until they ran out of money on Thursday.

About half the loans that JPMorgan made were for less than $140,000, and more than 60% went to companies with fewer than 25 workers, the bank said.