In 2020, the SBA rushed to deploy online systems to handle the COVID loan tsunami. Four years later, those systems have evolved into the MySBA portal - a "unified" borrower experience that was supposed to bring order to chaos.
Instead, the MySBA portal is a monument to government IT failure. Buggy, confusing, often contradictory, and prone to crashes at the worst possible moments. Borrowers trying to manage their loans through this system face a nightmare of technical glitches and conflicting information.
The Cost of Dysfunction
The SBA has spent over $300 million on IT systems since 2020, including the various portals that eventually became MySBA. For context, that's more than many Fortune 500 companies spend on their entire technology infrastructure.
- Development and maintenance cost since 2020: $317 million
- Average uptime: 94.2% (industry standard: 99.9%)
- Reported data discrepancies: 23% of accounts
- Users who prefer calling over portal: 71%
When 71% of users would rather wait on hold for hours than use your website, you've failed at basic web design.
The Phantom Payment Problem
The most common complaint: payments that appear, disappear, and reappear like quantum particles. Borrowers make payments, see confirmation screens, receive confirmation emails - and then the payments vanish from their account history.
- Make payment on MySBA → Confirmation email received → Payment not in history
- Call SBA → "We see the payment pending" → Check portal → Still not there
- Wait 48 hours → Payment appears → Different amount than what was paid
- Call SBA again → "The system updated incorrectly, we'll fix it"
- Wait another week → Still wrong → Give up
"I made my June payment on June 1st. The portal showed it as received on June 15th. Then it disappeared on June 20th. It reappeared on July 3rd but dated August 1st. I have no idea if my July payment will be marked late. The SBA can't tell me either."
— Physical therapist, Ohio
The Two-Portal Trap
Here's where it gets really fun: many borrowers have loans in both the old CAFS portal AND the new MySBA portal. The systems don't communicate properly, leading to contradictory information.
The same loan might show:
- CAFS: "Current - No payments due"
- MySBA: "Delinquent - 60 days past due"
Which one is right? Call the SBA and they'll tell you to check the portal. Call again and a different agent will say CAFS is more accurate. Call a third time and you'll be told MySBA is the "source of truth." There is no truth, only Schrödinger's loan.
The Document Upload Black Hole
Need to submit documents through MySBA? Good luck. The upload system is notorious for:
- Silent failures: Document appears to upload, confirmation received, but nothing is actually stored
- Size limits: 10MB per file, but errors don't clearly explain when you exceed it
- Format rejections: PDFs rejected for no discernible reason
- Queue limbo: "Processing" status that never resolves
- Lost submissions: Documents uploaded and confirmed, then later claimed never received
The SBA's official advice? "Upload documents and also fax or mail them as backup." In 2025. They're telling people to fax as backup.
The Mobile Experience: What Mobile Experience?
MySBA is theoretically mobile-responsive. In practice, trying to use it on a phone is an exercise in frustration:
- Login buttons positioned off-screen
- Dropdown menus that can't be selected
- Text that overflows containers
- Payment forms that time out mid-entry
- Two-factor authentication that doesn't work with mobile browsers
For an agency that claims to serve 30 million small business owners - many of whom run their businesses from their phones - this is inexcusable.
The Security Theater
MySBA implemented two-factor authentication after multiple security incidents. Great idea, terrible execution:
- Text message codes that arrive 10-15 minutes late
- Email codes that go to spam folders
- No backup method if your phone number changes
- Sessions that time out every 10 minutes during complex tasks
- Password requirements that seem randomly generated
- Users locked out due to code delays: 28% reported
- Average time to recover locked account: 3.2 days
- Users who've abandoned tasks due to timeouts: 61%
The "Upgrade" That Made Things Worse
In March 2025, the SBA rolled out a major MySBA "upgrade" that was supposed to fix many of these issues. Here's what actually happened:
- Account histories were wiped or corrupted
- Loan balances showed incorrect amounts
- Deferment statuses were reset
- Payment methods had to be re-entered
- The portal was down for 72 hours during the transition
The SBA's response? "We apologize for any inconvenience during this transition period." That was six months ago. The problems persist.
Why It Matters
These aren't just website glitches. They're causing real harm:
- False delinquencies: Credit reports showing late payments that weren't late
- Missed deferments: Approved deferments not reflected, leading to collection actions
- Double payments: Borrowers paying twice because the first payment didn't show
- Tax issues: Incorrect 1099s generated from bad data
- Wasted time: Hours spent on hold trying to resolve portal issues
What Should Happen
- Independent audit: Bring in actual technologists to assess the system and publish the findings
- User testing: Have real borrowers test every feature before deployment
- Unified data: Kill CAFS, migrate everything to one system, verify the migration
- Real uptime standards: 99.9% uptime or explain publicly why not
- Accountability: Someone should be fired when $300 million produces a broken website
The MySBA portal represents everything wrong with government technology: rushed development, inadequate testing, poor communication, and zero accountability. Small business owners deserve better than a website that makes their lives harder instead of easier.
At least the error messages load quickly.
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