Buffalo-based M&T Bank is already preparing for the Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness process. The bank, which has $120 billion in assets, is telling small business customers to prepare proof-of-payroll documents and is developing a platform to easily accept the necessary paperwork. 

“We use our web and mobile application. We use direct communication through email with our customers,” said Chris Kay, head of the consumer and business bank at M&T. “It really shouldn’t matter whether they call, meet their banker, look online or read an email. We’re being very consistent in keeping [customers] up to speed on what those requirements are and what they can do to be ready.” 

M&T is developing its PPP forgiveness platform with help from Blend, a loan-application technology company that also helped M&T with its initial PPP acceptance platform. With direct API access to the Small Business Administration’s E-Tran system, the bank aims to streamline the forgiveness process despite the anticipated volume. 

According to Kay, the bank is confident in its forgiveness process after its success with the acceptance phase of the PPP. He said the bank has processed 34,000 loans through the PPP, including about 9,000 in the first 90 minutes of going live. The bank processed only 1,400 SBA loans during all of last year.  

M&T has been working with Blend on mortgage applications for the past 18 months, Kay said. Blend white labels its mortgage application technology for many big lenders, including Wells Fargo, BMO Harris and Navy Federal, and works with over 250 lenders to process more than $3 billion in loans daily.  

Through Blend’s platform consumers can submit documents and validate information online. Last fall, the company expanded its product offerings beyond mortgage applications to help lenders streamline applications for other financial products. The company recently launched a mobile app for loan officers and a digital mortgage closing tool. Founded in 2012, Blend has raised $310 million so far, including a $130 million Series E in June.  

M&T began developing its PPP acceptance platform with Blend on a Thursday and had a solution ready within 72 hours. According to Kay, the bank spent the weekend testing solutions with real clients to make sure the process was as simple as possible. He added that while the bank had 20 employees working on SBA processes prior to the PPP, it redeployed its employees to build the team out to 2,400 to manage the PPP process.  

See also: M&T Bank’s new cash flow tool supports customers amid crisis

According to Blend, a major challenge with PPP loans is accuracy. “By aligning the platform-level dynamic eligibility and correctness checks, applications were clean, accurate, and approved the first time around,” Nima Ghamsari, Blend’s founder, wrote in a blog post. 

Navigating the PPP loan forgiveness process is a challenge shared by lenders across the country. Ernst & Young has launched a solution powered by Microsoft Azure. And Boston-based Radius Bank, a one-branch digital bank with $1.4 billion in assets, is standing up a solution with vendor Treasury Prime that will analyze how much small businesses spent on payroll, utilities, rent and other costs. 

“We’re an online bank, so we’re very accustomed to seamless tech solutions,” Grant Skeens, head of government guaranteed lending at Radius, recently told Bank Innovation. “The SBA just sets out the rules. The banks need to figure out how much will be forgiven.”