Support for small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis

Carolina Foothills Federal Credit Union($120.2M, Spartanburg, SC) offers a lineup of small-business products that includes four checking options, 11 loan programs, and a rewards credit card. In late 2018, it also started offering microloans and in-house coaching to small businesses.

Today, as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, Carolina Foothills is fielding inquiries from small-business owners who are voicing their concerns or looking to benefit from interest rate cuts. Scott Whelchel, microlending officer at the credit union, has started reaching out to check in with every business borrower.

“Some will be brief,” Whelchel says. “Others will have concerns. The borrowers in childcare and food service are the two groups I suspect will have the greatest concerns.”

Listen. Assess. Solve.

In response to the disruption caused by the coronavirus, Carolina Foothills has already rolled out extensions on its consumer-based loans, which the credit union services on its own core system. Business loans, however, are a different animal that the credit union cannot address with a one-size-fits-all solution. So, the cooperative plans to make modification decisions on a case-by-case basis while it continues working with its local business owners.

 

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