Thread by @Phenomaly

I was happy to hear about the #MSLP initiative by the @federalreserve as part of the CARES Act - money that could help businesses weather these uncertain times.

It was announced 3 months ago though and keep getting changed before even going live. /1

However, after all the delays and revisions, @federalreserve and @BostonFed finally announced yesterday that they are accepting lender registrations, and encouraging lenders to start making the #MSLP loans.

But who are these lenders? /2

Well the Fed says that any federally-insured deposit institution is an eligible lender.

So FDIC insured banks, credit unions, and savings and loan institutions can all participate.

Awesome! So just contact your bank right?

Well not so fast /3

We have had accounts with @NavyFederal for several years, but after a couple calls into their business lending department - they didn't know what the program was and indicated they had no plans to participate. Bummer /4

But that's ok because we also have an account over at @firstrepublic

They knew about the program but said they will not be participating. End of story. Ok then.

So I guess time to start contacting other banks. I did just that /5

Here are some results:

contacted @BankofAmerica Business Lending - never heard of #MSLP

contacted @WellsFargo small business lending - never heard of it. I pointed out to them they have an actual page on their website about it, but he said he hasn't heard anything about it /6

Because @WellsFargo had that web page, I decided to be a little more persistent. So I tried a branch and got the same result. I found a different number for Wells Fargo Business Lending - same thing. Never heard of it. ok then /7

Next I tried @CitizensBank . Got someone in their Business Lending department - never heard of #MSLP

Called @ComericaBank next - same result. didn't know what I was talking about

So I tried @bankofnevada next - they hard of the program! its the furthest I've gotten /8

But their answer was "We have not made a decision on whether we will be participating in the Main Street Lending Program at this time" 😐. ok then.

so @SVB_Financial was next - they hadn't heard of it. Side note here, this rep made me explain 3 different times I was not /9

in fact asking about the #PPPloan .

And at this point I'm truly baffled. After all, the #MSLP is a $600 BILLION program being handled by the @federalreserve . Its part of the #CARESAct and as far as I can tell, has gotten plenty of press /10

a simple Google search of "Main Street Lending Program" will yield tons of articles from the likes of @Forbes @CNN @WSJ @YahooFinance @business @Reuters @businessinsider and others

Yet, major banks seem to be completely oblivious. How can that be? /11

I also tried @BankoftheWest and @Chase and a few others.

Same result. Never heard of it.

So after spending a full day doing exactly what @BostonFed says to do, I decided to email them to ask for help finding a "participating lender"

Their response? /12

"We have no plans to publish a list of eligible lenders. We encourage you to contact other financial institutions that plan to participate"

Sigh

Fin /13