U.S. small businesses make up 47.3 percent of the private workforce according to the Small Business Administration; on average those small businesses have only 27 days worth of cash to survive, the $2tn stimulus is one step to help save these companies; writing in American Banker Jo Ann Barefoot discusses how the private sector is coming together to build new tools to help the government push these funds to those who need it most; Barefoot’s nonprofit, the Alliance of Innovative Regulation, hosted a hackathon last week with 60 people from banks, fintechs and nonprofits in the U.S and Europe; eight teams were formed to build solutions over a 48 hour period; the teams worked on front-end tools to help applicants navigate eligibility and document requirements; technology that can quickly disburse the funds; creative ways to manage forgiveness requirements, prevent fraud and dovetail new tech with existing infrastructure; fintechs and banks alike want to help, its time for the government to start seriously consider how to leverage the help they are getting. American Banker
