Biz2Credit, Inc.

A speed promise on a first come, first served program

Biz2Credit and its subsidiary Itria Ventures processed applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, the emergency COVID-19 lending scheme for small businesses. The company advertised that applications would be processed in an average of 10 to 14 business days.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the real average was more than double that, with tens of thousands of applicants waiting over two months for a final determination. The company knew about the delays and kept making the timing claim until nearly the end of the program.

Why the timing claim mattered so much

PPP loans were issued first come, first served. When the program exhausted its funds in May 2021 the government stopped accepting applications, so an applicant stuck in a queue was not inconvenienced, they were shut out. Some Biz2Credit applicants ended up with no funds at all.

The complaint also alleges the company ignored repeated and urgent requests to withdraw applications, which delayed and sometimes prevented those businesses from seeking PPP funds through another lender, and that the application process was designed to lock in as many applicants as possible before underwriting them.

The settlement

Biz2Credit agreed to pay $33 million in damages. The FTC described this and a parallel $26 million settlement with a separate company as the largest damages amounts it had ever secured under Section 19 of the FTC Act. The order also bars the company from misrepresenting loan application information or any material fact about a government benefit, and from refusing to let applicants withdraw promptly.

What is not established

The order is a settlement and resolves the allegations without any admission or finding of wrongdoing.