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. 

For a nonprofit credit union like USF FCU, with some $700 million in assets and more than 60,000 members, that's a nice payday, albeit with some extra work to earn it. And at least five banks in the region have handled more than 300 PPP loans to date, and three — CenterState Bank, First Home Bank and Bank of Tampa — have handled more than 1,000. So for those institutions that payday looks to be even bigger.

The majority of loans at USF FCU, meanwhile, have gone to small businesses that provide professional, scientific, technical, health care and social services, the release states. One of them is Pegasos Public Relations, a Tampa-based firm run by Kelly Williams, a veteran PR and communications professional who says she’s used USF FCU for her personal financial needs since 1990 and will now use it for her business. 

The credit union was “the first to reach out to me about the PPP program. My Pegasos payroll has now been protected,” Williams states in the release. 

"The credit union is gratified to be able to help small businesses and their employees in these challenging times," USF FCU President and CEO Richard Skaggs states in the release. "This exemplifies exactly what the credit union is all about: giving back to our members and our communities."