Customers Bank Creates White Label Turnkey Solution Empowering Lenders to Participate in PPP Loan Programs

WEST READING, PA. (January 7, 2021) – Customers Bank is offering banks, credit unions, community development financial institutions, minority deposit institutions, microfinance institutions, and other lenders and non-profits a “white label” turnkey end-to-end PPP origination, funding, and loan forgiveness solution.  

There are numerous reports of PPP fatigue – lenders that simply do not have the capacity or desire to offer new PPP loans or PPP Second Draw loans to previous borrowers yet want to be responsive to their clients. Customers Bank will assist the clients of those banks with a seamless and mostly invisible process that leverages the bank’s technology experience and prowess.

Customers Bank was one of a handful of traditional financial institutions that created a hybrid fintech model to support the SBA’s initial round of Paycheck Protection Program loans to quickly get economic relief to small businesses across the country. By working with select fintech partners, the bank was able to participate in over 100,000 SBA-approved loans – fifth highest of all lenders in the nation – and provide an aggregate value of over $5 billion to small businesses.

“We’re part of an industry group where we’ve heard large and small institutions express concern about the reputational risk of not participating in the Second Draw PPP loans” stated Sam Sidhu, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Customers Bank. “At the same time, their management teams are struggling to justify participating in the new round of funding. This got us thinking about productizing our model. We are already using this for ourselves, so we can help more small businesses by offering our solution to other lenders so thousands of banks don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”

Customers Bank made the decision to help other lenders in an effort to support a greater number of small businesses across the nation. The bank created the white label product to empower lenders to direct their clients to an online loan application for the Second Draw PPP loans. The online application will be branded for the lender, but as a service to its long-standing clients, Customers Bank will close and fund the loans into the customer's deposit account at its existing institution. Customers Bank will service the Second Draw loans and support the clients through the Loan Forgiveness process. The partner lender will maintain its relationship with their clients.

Already, a $50 billion bank has signed up for this service. One of the top-five banks in the nation is participating in the Second Draw PPP Loans but has entered into a referral relationship with Customers Bank for some of its customers for this service. 

Hallmarks of the white label program are:

• Solution covers the customer journey end-to-end from funding through servicing and forgiveness;
• Financial institution retains the customer relationship with a branded portal that strengthens their customer experience;
• No tech integration required by the financial institutions;
• Financial institutions retain “ownership” of clients – Customers Bank will not market to them; and
• There is no fee to financial institutions – Customers Bank will be paid directly by the SBA and will pay the lenders for the referral.

To learn more about Customers Bank or its products and services, visit www.customersbank.com.

About Customers Bank

Customers Bank, a subsidiary of Customers Bancorp, Inc. a bank holding company, is a full-service super-community bank with assets of approximately $18.8 billion at September 30, 2020. A member of the Federal Reserve System with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Customers Bank is an equal opportunity lender that provides a range of banking and lending services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, individuals and families. Services and products are available wherever permitted by law through digital-first apps, online portals, and a network of offices and branches. Customers Bancorp, Inc.’s voting common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CUBI. Additional information can be found on the company’s website, www.customersbank.com.