Financial relief program brings windfall for banks, credit unions

The federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program helped many workers and small businesses weather the COVID-19 storm. It also helped pad the books of credit unions and banks, many of which worked double-time to get funds to clients. 

Financial institutions that processed PPP loans received fees ranging from 1% to 5% of the loan amount. USF Federal Credit Union, for one example, processed some 335 PPP applications to date, worth more than $15 million, according to a press release. At around $45,000 per loan, at 5% for loans worth less than $350,000, that means the credit union could have generated up to $753,750 on PPP loans.