First Forward Podcasts

How These Recent SBA Fee Changes Could Impact Small Businesses (September 21, 2021)

Episode Summary

Recent SBA fee changes could yield positive results for your business. To learn more about this recent news, listen to our episode hosted by SBA Program Manager at First American Bank, Alan Lane-Murcia.

Episode Notes

Our SBA Program Manager, Alan Lane-Murcia, discusses how the SBAs reduction in fees will allow small businesses easier access to financial support options and more revenue to sustain internal exports, capital levels, and credit.

Episode Transcription

You’re listening to First Forward Podcasts from First American Bank. We’re getting into recent SBA fee changes and what that means for business owners. Here’s your host for today’s episode, SBA Program Manager, Alan Lane-Murcia.

Hi everyone, thanks for tuning in. I’m Alan Lane-Murcia, SBA Program Manager at First American Bank. Today, I’ll be going over recent fee changes made by the SBA and what it could mean for you and your business. So, stay with me for that news.

Recently the SBA announced a fee waiver for all SBA 7a loans $350,000 and under starting October 1, 2021 and going until September 30, 2022. There is also a fee reduction for loans between $350,000 and $1,000,000. This new waiver is for an entire year for $350,000 and under and has never been done before. There have been previous waivers for loans $150,000 and under, but not this.

Who is going to benefit the most? It’s going to be main street mom and pop businesses. It’s also going to be women- and minority-owned businesses who have historically fallen under the lower-dollar loan amounts that would be served by this fee waiver. The waiver is more targeted for streamlined underwriting and to help more underserved groups. $350,000 is an SBA cutoff for how SBA allows banks to conduct our underwriting for a loan request. We can do streamlined underwriting for loans under $350,000. It is easier for loans of this level to get done because of that. Additionally, a lot of the small businesses mentioned before, the mom and pop and minority business, fall under that category. We have seen a spike in SBA lending because of the fee waiver that was in place for all SBA since January of this year. More customers became aware of SBA because of PPP, but also because we at First American Bank made the current fee waiver known to our customers. That resulted in a spike in our SBA loan requests. The blanket fee waiver that has been in place since the beginning of the year is ending in September, but the ongoing fee waiver for the smaller dollar loans will be a boost to many SBA customers here at First American Bank.

Additionally, you may have heard news reports about other benefits Congress is discussing implementing through the SBA, possibly some fee waivers, possibly some other benefits. But as they say, that would literally take an act of congress. Please come back to check on updates, if and when any additional benefits are approved, we will let you know. As a reminder, First American Bank is an SBA Preferred Lender. As always, we’re here to help. 

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First American Bank is a Member FDIC.