Paypal and Loanbuilder are using personal credit scores to deny small businesses access to PPP funds. Here is a little story. A few months ago, before the coronavirus pandemic, Paypal approved me for a high interest rate small business loan, however, when I applied for the Paycheck Protection Progam (PPP), a potentially forgivable loan that was set up by the federal government to help small businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic, Paypal denied my application based on my credit score of 620. 

Women and minority owned businesses are typically self funded and run from out of pocket. This is because we are frequently underfunded and underbanked and denied access to loans by banks and financial institutions. I self funded (literally, imagine being able to buy a printer and business essentials only if you made a sale) and grew my business from a small corner of my living room to a state of the art facility. Everything we make goes back into the business. I did not have the cushion of a business loan or venture capital, because as a minority woman - owned business I am considered a risk and not likely to receive any funding from my banks. I accepted my first business loan - an extremely high interest rate loan from Paypal a few months ago after they run my credit and evaluated my financials, deeming me successful and profitable enough to grant me their high interest rate loan.

I find it ironic that we were eligible for a predatory high interest rate loan from Paypal, but not for the federally backed PPP loan that was set up by the government to help small mom and pops and women and minority-owned businesses like mine. Help me ask Daniel Schulman the CEO of Paypal and Ed Harycki the CEO of Loanbuilder, which is the subsidiary that Paypal uses to process the PPP, and these large financial companies to intervene and stop this discriminatory tactic before the PPP funds run out.  It is discriminatory to use  personal credit checks to deny women and minority owned businesses help from the Paycheck protection Program. 

Expecting a largely self-funded small business to have the stellar credit needed to get a private loan is one thing, however, purposefully denying them the federally backed government aid that they need to keep them in business during a pandemic is the height of evil.

We are good enough for your high interest private loans but not good enough for the PPP government assistance?

Time is running out and the PPP fund will be exhausted soon if we do not act fast! Sign this petition and share it everywhere to demand that Paypal and Loanbuilder to stop using personal credit to deny the PPP to their most vulnerable business customers.