Two fintechs, Biz2Credit and Womply, agreed to pay a collective $59 million to settle allegations they deceived small businesses seeking Paycheck Protection Program loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday.
Biz2Credit and its subsidiary, Itria Ventures, will pay $33 million in damages because they claimed PPP loan applications would be processed in an average of 10 to 14 business days, but the true average was more than a month, the FTC asserted in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Tens of thousands of applicants waited more than two months, yet Biz2Credit continued to advertise the 10- to 14-day time frame until nearly the end of the program, the FTC said.
