Not even 10 minutes after a government relief loan program for small businesses relaunched on Monday, lenders reported that the U.S. Small Business Administration system was overwhelmed and inaccessible with a flood of applications.
Lenders from across the country were saying they couldn’t get into the SBA’s system when the Paycheck Protection Program relaunched at 10:30 a.m. New York time, said Paul Merski of the Independent Community Bankers of America. The system was down as early as 10:34 a.m., according to a person familiar with the matter.