Commercial lending

Theorem is marketing its first-ever securitization of unsecured loans. It uses machine-learning technology to gauge the risk of default, a growing concern during the pandemic recession.

The card giant could pay $850 million in cash for the online small-business lender, according to a person familiar with the talks.

The Small Business Administration began accepting applications Monday, but lenders such as JPMorgan Chase are holding off in hopes that Congress will grant blanket forgiveness for smaller Paycheck Protection Program loans.

More than a third fear the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could drag into 2022 or later, and they are most worried about commercial real estate loans, according to a Promontory Interfinancial Network survey.

Trade groups are still pushing for the industry's priorities, such as temporarily lifting the member business lending cap, as negotiations over the next round of aid continue.

Why banks want in on Google checking accounts; readying new tech tools to tackle anticipated rise in delinquencies; more institutions opt to sell PPP loans as heavy lifting nears; and more from this week’s most-read stories.

Spinning off its digital bank will allow Pennsylvania-based Customers to beef up its commercial lending and buy other banks. BankMobile, meanwhile, plans to pursue more white-label relationships and perhaps explore its own acquisitions.

Just eight loans had been made as of late July, six of them through a single community bank in Florida, according to new data on the federal rescue program for small and midsize companies hurt by the pandemic.

A survey of companies that received funding from the Paycheck Protection Program also showed that respondents on average have cut their payroll costs by more than half.

Many sellers are ditching the loans to avoid the cumbersome forgiveness process. For others, the Paycheck Protection Program was never a strategic fit.