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U.S. Bank, N.A.

Lender or loan platform

PPP
Type
Company or group
Role
Lender or loan platform
Programs
PPP
Updated

The profile

The only one of eight large lenders examined by a House subcommittee that let non-customers apply for PPP loans from the first day. It made 174,822 loans for $10.8 billion; on the SBA's fee schedule it was owed about $507 million.

  • Type: National bank; PPP lender
  • Parent: U.S. Bancorp

In the archive

U.S. Bank made 174,822 Paycheck Protection Program loans for $10.8 billion, an average of $61,863, in the SBA's loan file; three in four were for $50,000 or less.1 Priced loan by loan under the SBA's fee schedule, they carry about $506.9 million in processing fees.12 U.S. Bancorp never published a total. How Much Did U.S. Bank Make From Pandemic Relief? works through what its filings and slides do show.

Open to non-customers

A House Select Subcommittee staff report found in October 2020 that, in contrast to seven other large lenders it examined, "U.S. Bank allowed non-customers to apply for PPP loans through its online portal starting the first day of the program." Using the bank's own data, it found that U.S. Bank "processed loans for applicants with over 100 employees in 15.6 days as compared to 15.7 days for single-employee applicants," and cited that result to doubt other lenders' explanation for funding larger customers faster.3 The Subcommittee's findings carry no penalty.

Most of U.S. Bank's 2020 lending came after the first round. The SBA approved 17,371 of its loans for $2.28 billion by April 16, 2020, and 108,030 over the whole year.1 Chief executive Andy Cecere wrote in the 2021 proxy statement that the bank had "helped more than 108,000 small businesses obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans."4 The same proxy records that the compensation committee raised the bonus funding for vice chair Gunjan Kedia by 5 percent "to recognize her significant leadership outside her normal responsibilities in supporting the company's participation in the CARES Act's Paycheck Protection Program in 2020."4

Sued over the line and the fees

On April 19, 2020 two California businesses sued U.S. Bancorp and U.S. Bank in the Central District of California, alleging that instead of processing applications first come, first served, "U.S. Bank prioritized loan applications seeking higher loan amounts because processing those applications first generated larger loan origination fees."5 The bank's answer, as Politico reported and Banking Dive quoted it: "We plan to vigorously defend ourselves as it is without merit."6 Its quarterly reports that year said the company was "subject to early-stage litigation concerning their participation in the PPP."7 We found no ruling on the allegations.

Accountants who had helped borrowers apply sued lenders for a share of the fee. U.S. Bank was one of seven lender defendants in American Video Duplicating v. Citigroup, where the court wrote that it "appears every court that has decided this issue has held that the CARES Act does not require lenders to pay agent fees absent an agreement to do so."8 The Agents Got Nothing follows those suits.

A second "US Bank" in the loan file

The SBA file lists a separate originating lender, "US Bank National Association" of San Francisco, with 21,234 loans for $3.08 billion, 20,430 of them to California borrowers.1 U.S. Bancorp bought MUFG Union Bank, a West Coast bank, on December 1, 2022.9 The file does not say that the San Francisco loans are Union Bank's; the match of place and timing points that way, and its lender page carries the figures separately.

Sources

Notes

  1. SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data, release of Sept. 30, 2024, loans with U.S. Bank, National Association (and, separately, US Bank National Association) as originating lender, priced under 85 FR 20811, 86 FR 3692 and 86 FR 3712; see the lender page. Original: SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data (original: data.sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
  2. SBA interim final rule, Paycheck Protection Program, 85 FR 20811 (Apr. 15, 2020). ↩
  3. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, staff report, "Underserved and Unprotected" (Oct. 2020), pp. 7 and 15. ↩
  4. U.S. Bancorp 2021 proxy statement (DEF 14A). Original: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/36104/000104746921000551/a2242936zdef14a.htm ↩
  5. Class action complaint, Law Office of Irina Sarkisyan, Inc. v. U.S. Bancorp, No. 2:20-cv-03590 (C.D. Cal.), Dkt. 1. Original: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.779886/gov.uscourts.cacd.779886.1.0.pdf ↩
  6. Banking Dive, "Big banks chased larger PPP loans for fees, lawsuit says" (Apr. 21, 2020). Original: https://www.bankingdive.com/news/lawsuit-jpmorgan-wells-bofa-us-bank-ppp-loans-fees/576417/ ↩
  7. U.S. Bancorp Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Original: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/36104/000119312520211979/d890129d10q.htm ↩
  8. Order granting defendants' motions to dismiss, American Video Duplicating Inc. v. Citigroup Inc., No. 2:20-cv-03815-ODW (C.D. Cal. Nov. 16, 2020), Doc. 131. Original: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.780998/gov.uscourts.cacd.780998.131.0.pdf ↩
  9. U.S. Bancorp Form 8-K on the MUFG Union Bank acquisition (Dec. 1, 2022). Original: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/36104/000119312522296642/d766593d8k.htm ↩
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