By: Orla McCaffrey
Oct. 10, 2020 5:30 am ET
Vista Bank in Texas has made Main Street loans to 15 businesses in the program’s first three months. But hundreds more have applied, said Jared Craighead , the bank’s chief of staff. Right now, the bank is limiting applications to in-state businesses and conserving its underwriting criteria.
“We’re not going to extend a loan to someone not in the financial position to pay it back,” Mr. Craighead said.
Mr. Scott’s group has recommended changes, including 100% Fed responsibility for the loans and a fixed interest rate of 1%. Current rates hover around 3.2%.
The Fed has tinkered with the program since its rollout. But the central bank is unlikely to make any major changes and has done “basically all of the things that we can think of,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress in late September.
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