Area bank scores big win in PPP loans

Valley National Bank has scored a major victory in the federal Payment Protection Program.

The bank is No. 1 in Florida among both big national and regional banks in a new report that probes how financial institutions have responded to the coronavirus crisis. The report, from Miami-based banking analyst Ken Thomas, created the PPP Large Loan Community Responsiveness Index. Thomas measured each bank’s PPP loans over $150,000 against that bank’s Florida market share. An index of 1 means a bank has a market share of such PPP loans equal to its market share of deposits, and “is responding satisfactorily” to community needs, the report states. An index of two or above “would represent the most responsive and outstanding banks,” the report states, while below .50 would “represent the opposite where improvement was needed.”