A leading provider of financial technology, Bottomline Technologies on Thursday (April 2, 2020) decided to offer lenders a simplified Small Business Administration (SBA) loan application platform to originate credit online under the “Paycheck Protection Program.”
For banks that offer SBA loans under the program, Bottomline is offering a technology tool tailored to the agency’s application requirements at no cost.
“We saw an opportunity to help in this crisis,” said Bottomline CEO Rob Eberle in a statement. “We are not set up to sew masks or to manufacture ventilators. We do have technology that can help provide funding to the 30 million impacted small businesses that are so vital to the country’s economy and its employment. This is our small part in standing up to this unprecedented global challenge. We hope others will find a way to do the same.”
Bottomline is of the view that for the survival of small businesses, loans and emergency funding play a very important role. It can prove to be a great hurdle for banks to provide access to those programs and funds, especially at the time when physically visiting branches is difficult. To overcome this, the company will provide its digital business account opening, fraud management, and onboarding platform, to banks serving small business customers. The company also mentioned that it will help to serve those that deliver digital access to the critically needed SBA guaranteed funding programs.
In February, Bottomline collaborated with Strategic Treasurer, a Georgia-based financial processing company, to release its 2020 Treasury Fraud and Controls Survey. The report states that in the past three years, 60% of the companies have seen a 50% increase in the fraud rates. Same research that took place in 2017 says only 40% of companies reported the cases of malfeasance.
