The Hawaii Bankers Association is urging small businesses, including solo proprietors, that have been affected by COVID-19 to contact their bank as soon as possible to learn about loans they can receive through the federal relief program known as the Payment Protection Program, or PPP.

Members of the association, which consists of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured institutions in Hawaii, include American Savings Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Bank of the Orient, Central Pacific Bank, Finance Factors, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii National Bank, HomeStreet Bank, Ohana Pacific Bank, and Territorial Savings Bank. All the banks have a special page dedicated to the loan program on their website.

HBA said the loans are “first come, first served” with limited funding. The association said the expected volume of loans have complicated the implementation of the loan program and that the nationwide volume of loan applications has the potential to overwhelm the technological capacity of the federal government. Delays are expected, the association said.

The program, which was enacted on March 27, is being administered by the U.S. Treasury and the Small Business Administration and uses SBA-approved lenders. Hawaii banks, like other banks across the nation, just received interim final guidance from the federal government on how the loan program will be implemented.