An empty restaurant serving only takeout due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak is seen in Washington, DC, on March 18, 2020. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
JPMorgan Chase will invest $8 million in small businesses in the U.S., Europe, and China that have been hit hard by the public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.
The investment is part of a much larger $50 million global philanthropic commitment to help provide emergency healthcare, food, and other humanitarian relief to vulnerable communities and existing nonprofit partners.
Chase will deploy the first $15 million “promptly” and the remainder over time. As consumers self-quarantine and cities go on lockdown, small businesses have already been majorly disrupted by the pandemic and are preparing for much worse over the coming weeks.
About half of small businesses have 14 or fewer cash buffer days, according to a JPMorgan research report on small business financial health in urban communities. In black or Hispanic communities, most small businesses have fewer than 21 cash buffer days.
Chase is working with its customers, including small businesses, to waive fees, extend payment due dates for cards, auto loans, and mortgages, and increase credit lines as needed due to coronavirus-related challenges, a spokesman for the company said.
Like most banks, it’s also directing people to its mobile app, but many small businesses still require branches to make change for drawers and to deposit cash.
The bank’s financial commitment follows one by Facebook, which said Tuesday it would invest a whopping $100 million in now struggling small businesses. Delivery startups like Grubhub and DoorDash are deferring or waiving commissions to encourage people to continue giving business to independent local restaurants.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
