Startups get PPP loans as banks rake up fee revenue

The U.S. Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department released data on PPP loan recipients this week. Recipients included small businesses, startups, investment companies that manage billions and law firms. So far, the U.S. government doled out 4.9 million loans worth $521 billion.

Why should we care?
The PPP process was an area where fintech lenders showed off the value of their underwriting tech stacks, including Kabbage, PayPal, BlueVine, and numerous others. On the other hand, fintech startups receiving PPP loans reportedly included text-based financial platform Stackin (between $150,000 and $300,000, per TechCrunch) and AI supply-chain management company Taulia (between $2M and $5M, per CNBC). The top 10 PPP bank lenders, according to S&P Market Intelligence, will score more than $3.8 billion in fee revenue. But despite these gains, PPP will likely continue to be a concern for banks due to ongoing technical issues, changing guidance from bureaucrats, and the uncertainty of the loan forgiveness process.