Wintrust Financial Corporation Working Tirelessly To Support Strong Community Interest in the Paycheck Protection Program

ROSEMONT, Ill., April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq: WTFC) announced today that it has received more than $3.1 billion in loan inquiries from more than 7,700 small businesses since it opened its platform on April 3 to accept client submissions for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) from the U.S. Treasury Department and Small Business Administration (SBA).

Edward J. Wehmer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “On March 27, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act became law and banks were directed to prepare for the launch of the PPP program. In less than a week, Wintrust created an entire customer-facing loan inquiry system and a new underwriting process to meet small businesses’ needs and the government’s desire to begin accepting inquiries on April 3. What our team has accomplished in just a few days is truly remarkable and I believe it is proof-positive of our unwavering commitment to our communities.”

Wehmer continued, “I have never been prouder of Wintrust and its employees than I am now. Our clients have put their trust in us as their community bank.  We are working as hard as we can so that our clients can sleep better at night, knowing that they can continue to pay their employees, who in turn can pay their bills and feed their families.  We are honored to be part of the solution to the complex problems faced by our clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.  And we will continue to answer their call throughout this crisis and into the eventual recovery.”

Richard B. Murphy, Vice Chairman-Lending, stated, “As one of the largest SBA lenders in Illinois, we know that we are uniquely qualified to help small business customers navigate through this program. Since we opened the platform on the evening of April 3, we have received more than $3.1 billion in loan inquiries to administer and process. Our platform has worked as designed. We have trained hundreds of our bankers on the program and they are working tirelessly to process the inquiries. We also have quick response teams dedicated solely to this program to troubleshoot any issues around our network.  Notably, over 50% of the number of PPP inquiries so far are for loans of less than $100,000, meaning that our participation in the PPP program will truly get vitally needed funds to many small businesses, fulfilling the spirit of this CARES Act program.”