The arbitration award
An arbitrator upheld Womply’s fees and awarded it $117.9 million.
Womply’s PPP fees were private technology contracts with its lender partners. When one lender, Benworth Capital Partners, refused to pay and tried to claw the fees back as illegal “agent” fees, Womply brought a full-merits arbitration against it. The arbitrator weighed the entire record and ruled for Womply.
What the dispute was about
Under the PPP, the SBA paid processing fees to lenders. Womply, in turn, was paid by those lenders under private technology, API, and referral contracts for the intake and screening software it provided. When Benworth Capital Partners, one of those lenders, declined to pay, Womply brought arbitration to collect; Benworth counterclaimed to recover roughly $420 million, recasting the technology fees as unlawful agent fees and blaming Womply’s technology for fraud.
What the arbitrator found
The arbitrator upheld the technology-fee contracts and awarded Womply $117,944,228. The roughly $420 million clawback theory was rejected. And on the central question of who was responsible for the loans, the arbitrator found that the lender, not Womply, was the underwriter of record. Womply’s contracts had said so all along: it “is not a lender or lender service provider,” and underwriting and good-faith review rested with the lender.
When the lender was ordered to produce the specific loans it blamed on Womply’s technology, it withdrew the fraud claim rather than argue it.
The fraud accusation that was dropped
The fraud allegations in the case traced largely to a 2022 congressional staff report. The arbitrator excluded that report as “rank hearsay.” And when Benworth was directed to produce the underlying loans it had attributed to Womply’s screening, it dropped the fraud claim instead of putting it to proof. No fraud finding was made against Womply.
Not the only ruling in Womply’s favor
The arbitration was not an isolated outcome. In a separate matter, a federal court (Oto Analytics LLC v. Capital Plus Financial, N.D. Tex. 3:21-cv-02636) likewise upheld Womply’s fees. Together, Womply’s counsel described the results as resolving more than half a billion dollars of claimed liability.
Willkie: the $117.9M award → JAMS corrected final award →