April 27, 2020 / DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN
Small businesses, already hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, can’t seem to catch a break.
On the first day of the reopened Paycheck Protection Program, a key lifeline from Congress, banks are reporting that the Small Business Administration’s portal is not working.
Bankers told NPR on Monday that the system, known as E-Tran, would not allow them to enter loan application information that is needed for small businesses to access the program.
“We have been attempting to access E-Tran since 10:30 and have had no luck,” said Maria Amoruso, chief marketing officer at Pennsylvania’s NexTier Bank, in a midday message to NPR.