CRFG: PPP Loan Processing Software Delivered Inside the Program Window
The problem
Cumberland River Financial Group is a nationally operating, state-regulated financial institution that funds only small businesses. When the Paycheck Protection Program opened during Covid-19, CRFG needed loan processing software within weeks.
The system had to handle borrower PII and financial documents securely, classify applicants by industry code, verify addresses, capture signatures electronically and work with SBA processes. And CRFG's own staff were working from home.
A program window in weeks
- No platform for PPP applications
- A few weeks to launch
- Borrower PII and financial documents to protect
- Loan staff working from home
Live inside the window
- Online intake with address checks and NAICS code search
- Encrypted documents behind signed URLs, PII anonymized
- DocuSign signatures and SBA submission in the workflow
- Secure virtual desktops for loan staff
What we built
Applicant and officer portal
A React front end on a modular Django REST backend, with MFA, one-time codes by text and role-based access for loan officers and reviewers.
Secure documents
Encrypted storage on S3, signed URLs for every upload and download, and PII anonymized during processing.
Checks at entry
SmartyStreets address verification and NAICS industry-code search on Elasticsearch, so errors are caught before review.
Signatures and submission
DocuSign for borrower signatures and the SBA integration for submission.
Remote desktops
Secure AWS WorkSpaces desktops so loan staff could work from home.
What changed
- Built and live during the program
- April to July 2020
- Commits from eight contributors
- 1,000+
- Secure AWS WorkSpaces desktops for loan staff
- Remote
What we learned
With loan staff at home, the secure desktops were as much a part of the launch as the portal. A loan platform is only as safe as the machines people use to open it.
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PPP loan platform for Cumberland River Financial Group
A React front end and Django APIs on AWS Workspaces take PPP applications from businesses, verify them with DocuSign and SmartyStreets, and submit them to the SBA.
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