Wells Fargo launches $400 million small-business recovery fund effort

Following up on an April commitment to donate all gross processing fees from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Wells Fargo has released the details of an approximately $400 million effort to help small businesses impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic keep their doors open, retain employees, and rebuild. The Bank said that through its new “Open for Business Fund,” the company will engage nonprofit organizations to provide capital, technical support and long-term resiliency programs to small businesses with an emphasis on those that are minority-owned businesses.

Through June 30, Wells Fargo funded loans under the PPP for more than 179,000 customers, with an average loan amount of $56,000, totaling $10.1 billion. Of the loans made, 84 percent of those are for companies that have less than 10 employees, 60 percent were for amounts of $25,000 or less and 90 percent of the applicants had $2 million or less in annual revenue.

“By donating approximately $400 million in processing fees to assist small businesses in need, Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund creates opportunities for near-term access to capital and addresses the road ahead to meaningful economic recovery, especially for black and African American entrepreneurs and other minority-owned businesses,” said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf. “Wells Fargo is committed to helping small businesses impacted by COVID-19 stay open and get back to growth.”