IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Two of the largest banks in Iowa did not take applications for the $349 billion small business aid program that launched Friday.
MidwestOne Bank and Bankers Trust announced late Thursday they did not have enough information from the Small Business Administration to proceed.
Bankers Trust said Friday that it expected to begin processing applications for the Paycheck Protection Program at noon Monday, starting with existing customers.
Bankers Trust, which calls itself Iowa’s largest privately owned bank, said earlier that it was unable to accept applications until more guidance was available.
“We are disappointed in this delay, as are other banks around the country,” the company said.
MidwestOne is an SBA-preferred lender based in Iowa City that has dozens of branches in Iowa and four other states.
“Banks in the U.S. do not yet have critical program details, or even a final format or place, to send requests to make loans to the federal government,” vice president Kyle Long told customers in an email.
He warned that submitting an incomplete or incorrect application could delay their loans, and said the best way forward was to wait until “regulations and forms are complete.”
The program offers loans that can be forgiven if businesses use the money to retain workers.
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