Industry News – September 9, 2020

BoA Backs Black-Owned Banks in $300 Million Equality Drive

The second-largest U.S. lender took equity stakes of about 5% in three Black or Latinx owned depository institutions. Bank of America also is in talks with other lenders owned by African Americans and Hispanics and serving low- and moderate-income communities that are expected to be completed within a year.

Source: MSN.com

 

Small Businesses Shun Social Security Payroll Tax Deferral

The order President Donald Trump signed August 8th allows employers to stop withholding the 6.2% payroll tax from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. Employees must make under $4,000 every two weeks to qualify. Trump said the order was aimed at putting more money into Americans’ pockets during the coronavirus outbreak.

Source: AP News

 

How to Use TikTok for Business

With over 800 million active users, small businesses are finding ways to use the newest social media platform, TikTok, to their advantage. The platform boasts its own ad platform to help businesses make the most of their advertising budget. Find out more ways to make the platform work as a cost-effective marketing tool for small businesses.

Source: Small Business Trends

 

Small Business Loan Approval Rates at Banks Fell in August 2020

According to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, small business loan approval percentages at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) and small banks dropped slightly last month. In August, big banks granted only 13.6% of the loan applications they received, compared to 13.8% in July. Similarly, small banks approved 18.5% of funding requests, a small dip from 18.6% the previous month.

Source: Global Newswire

 

Small Business Retirement Plans and the SECURE Act

Under the SECURE Act, the maximum credit amount has been increased to $5,000. This change went into effect for plan years beginning Jan. 1, 2020. The credit is calculated as the greater of $500 or the lessor of $250 times the number of non-highly compensated employees who are eligible to participate in the plan up to a maximum of $5,000.

Source: The Street