After weeks of lobbying, fintech companies are officially allowed to participate in the we government emergency loan program.

Pay Pal and Intuit QuickBooks announced Friday night that they had been approved by the Small Business Administration to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program. Government emergency loans aim to help small businesses survive the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

“It’s a race to save jobs now and for the future,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said in a press release. “We look forward to deploying our capital and expertise to do our part to help small businesses survive these difficult times.”

In addition to acting as a direct lender, Intuit QuickBooks said it will process payroll information, which small businesses must provide to lenders in order to be approved.

The US government had asked banks to help it distribute at least $ 350 billion in small business loans as part of the $ 2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill.

For weeks, tech-focused lenders were pushing to be included in this stimulus package. Financial Innovation Now – an industry group representing Square, PayPal, Intuit, Stripe and other non-bank financial companies – sent a letter to Congress in March asking that their members be included in any emergency funding.

“Small businesses are not well served by traditional financial institutions, and existing federal small business loan programs will not provide funds soon enough,” the letter said. “Any federal small business loan program must take advantage of digital market advancements to ensure stimulus can reach the businesses that need it most. “

Technology companies, including Square and Amazon, became popular opportunities for small businesses to access capital. PayPal said it has provided access to more than 900,000 loans and cash advances, and access to more than $ 15 billion in financing to more than 305,000 small businesses.