Articles by deBanked Staff

White House Reiterates Support for Lifting the SBLC Moratorium

Now that the opportunity to comment on the SBA’s proposal to lift the moratorium on new SBLCs has passed, the Biden administration has reiterated its support for the initiative. It convened a roundtable with leaders across the small business space on Tuesday “to discuss its commitment to ensuring small businesses have the access to the capital, technical assistance, and support they need to thrive.”

The administration said that if the moratorium is lifted, the “SBA would plan to add three licenses in the initial extension” and that “it would open a path for the Community Advantage program to become permanent.”

The SBA received 169 official comments on the proposal, some in support and some against.

Welcome to deBanked CONNECT

Welcome to deBanked CONNECT MIAMI. If you’re registered for today’s event, check-in begins at 1pm. The Miami Beach Convention Center is BIG so here’s some tips to find us:

You must enter the Convention Center from the Convention Center Drive side, not the Washington Ave side. Enter through the Convention Center Drive side into the main lobby and approach the escalators on the far right side. Go up them and follow the signs towards Sunset Vista, which is up another escalator. You’ll find it.

There is no walk-in registration. You must already have been registered to get in today. It is too late to buy a ticket.

Our team will be very busy with producing today’s event, but if you have a question, email events@debanked.com.

Amazon’s Business Loan Trajectory

According to documents purportedly obtained by Business Insider, Amazon plans to increase its business loan operations in 2023, estimating that loan receivables will eventually exceed $2B. Insider also says that its expected loss rate is 1.34%.

The receivable figure would not be all that surprising as Amazon as been on a steady trajectory upwards over the last decade with the exception of 2020 when covid struck. Its receivables reached $1.4B in Q3 2022. The year-end figure has not yet been released. $2B+ for 2023 would be in line with the historical trend.

2016: $661M
2017: $692M
2018: $710M
2019: $863M
2020: $381M (covid)
2021: $1B
2022 (Q3): $1.4B

Not counted in these figures is financing to Amazon sellers conducted through a third party. Amazon recently teamed up with Parafin on merchant cash advances, Lendistry for Business Loans, and Marcus for lines of credit, for example. Data on funding from these parties is a little more difficult to come by.

Trial of PPP Lending CEO To Start in May at Earliest

The trial of Rafael Martinez, the CEO of MBE Capital Partners, LLC that was arrested last year for fraud related to PPP lending and borrowing, is slated to begin in May at the earliest, according to the docket. The government accused Martinez of using false representations and documents to fraudulently obtain the approval of the SBA for his company to be a non-bank lender through the PPP. He subsequently used that approval to obtain $932M to issue PPP loans and generate $71M in lender fees. It is the first known case of a PPP lender being charged criminally. Martinez pled not guilty.