E-Tran

E-Tran Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

 

What is E-Tran?

E-Tran is an SBA loan guaranty origination solution that leverages best-practice Internet technology to reduce the turnaround time on loan guaranty requests and provide the agency with high quality, timely data to support the management and oversight of its portfolio. E-tran is one component of an overall strategy to provide increased efficiency and decreased costs in the loan guaranty origination process.

SBA has worked with numerous lenders over a two years period to tailor this application for the lending community. E-Tran’s flexibility allows lenders to determine which method of access is best for them. E-Tran was created to allow access through a number of channels, including:

  • A Web page where lenders can enter loan information for single loans;
  • A secure Web site capable of accepting multiple applications simultaneously via an XML (Extensible Markup   Language) file transfer
  • Working with software intermediaries that have E-Tran loan submission functionality built into their program.

The Agency has been requested repeatedly, to work with the financial industry’s software providers to incorporate E-Tran into their software products. The technical specifications for E-Tran were designed so that any bank is able access this system regardless of their level of technical expertise.

 

Who is eligible for E-tran?

SBAExpress lenders with delegated eligibility authority will be given 1st preference, but all Express lenders are eligible. SBA is taking an incremental approach to opening E-Tran. Currently, SBAExpress and PLP loan processing is E-Tran eligible. 504 loans will come online within the near future. A final timeline has not been determined.

What are lenders saying about E-tran?

  • Instant Assignment of SBA number (decreased turnaround time and convenience)
  • Competitive advantage: Ability to respond in the market place and close loans faster
  • Automated report features
  • Confidence that eligibility compliance is being maintained due to system design of the data entry and Validation
  • Automatic calculation of fees
  • Access to technical support (very responsive)
  • Drafts can be created and stored to return to at a later date
  • Overall programming very “user-friendly” and easy to train
  • Instant Validation provides comfort that there are no errors in data entry

 

How does it work?

 

  • Lender A (high level of technological capability or subscribes to a documentation software vendor)

    Lenders will have access to E-Tran whether they use commercially available software or an in-house designed program. Either can be easily updated to implement E-tran. Software vendors and lending partners can use the E-tran documentation to customize their software to extract SBA’s required data from their systems. This documentation describes the technology standards and data required to send an Internet file transfer to SBA.
    Once implemented, the data is sent to the SBA much like an e-mail attachment. The file transfer data is subjected to the same validation rules and constraints as data entered into the web application. For example, a $5 million SBAExpress loan guaranty request would be screened out for exceeding the “maximum loan amount” business logic coded into the system. In this instance, the system informs the user of the error and requests an acceptable entry for loan amount.
  • Lender B (has Internet capability, but does not use a software vendor product)

    Lenders must log into the system with their user names and passwords, which are entered in the New IT Security system and authenticated against SBA’s Partner Identification Management System (PIMS). The Security system and PIMS serve as the gatekeepers to E-tran. The integration of these three systems prevent a lender with an inactive SBAExpress agreement from processing a SBAExpress loan electronically.
    Once logged into the system, SBAExpress lenders will enter the data required to receive a loan number, most of which is the same as what is contained on the paper-based SBAExpress forms currently being used by SBAExpress lenders. It is important to note there are some additional data fields required in E-tran that some lenders may be unfamiliar with submitting during the loan guaranty approval process. Upon completion of the data entry, which takes an experienced SBAExpress Lender approximately 15-20 minutes, lenders will validate the data against SBA’s business rules, correct any mistakes, and then submit the loan application. Within minutes the lender will receive an SBA loan number signifying approval of the loan guaranty request.

 

How to get started?

Lenders should contact:
Stephen Kucharski-- (202)205-7551 or stephen.kucharski@sba.gov
Glenn Hannon-- (202)205-7122 or glenn.hannon@sba.gov

The following information will be required to issue a user id/password for E-tran:

Last Name of User:
First Name:
Middle Initial:
Lender Name:
Company:
FIRS #:
Complete Mailing Address:
Title:
Telephone Number:
E-mail address: