Commercial lending

Despite the continuing trends of consolidation and limited startup activity, bankers and industry insiders say there is a path forward. But small lenders must evolve with changing technology.

First Foundation in Dallas recently got a $228 million capital injection led by Fortress Investment Group. Now it's announced plans to pivot away from its heavy focus on multifamily loans, which lost value as interest rates rose.

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based bank grew loans and deposits in the second quarter as it won back business from former customers of the failed Silicon Valley Bank. First Citizens bought the remains of SVB last spring.

The Northeast regional bank missed expectations on net interest income and negatively revised much of its 2024 guidance.

The Oklahoma-based bank also struck an upbeat tone on economic conditions and credit quality after it reported a sharp quarter-over-quarter increase in net income.

When the superregional bank sold its insurance business for $10.1 billion, it laid out three ways to use the proceeds: buybacks, a balance sheet repositioning and loan growth. The latter plan is so far proving to be elusive.

Bank OZK is the latest commercial real estate-heavy bank to announce plans to diversify its business. CEO George Gleason emphasized that he's confident in the bank's loan portfolio, but said he thinks misperceptions are dragging down the stock price.

For at least the fifth consecutive quarter, the Providence, Rhode Island, company increased its allowance for credit losses on general office loans, which continue to be a problem area for banks.

The core services provider partnered with Lendio to devise a cloud-native tool that will automate small business loan decisioning and onboarding for banks.

The San Francisco bank's interest expenses continue to rise as depositors switch to higher-yielding options. At the same time, soft loan demand from business customers is putting a lid on how much interest Wells is collecting from borrowers.

Susser Bank has proved successful attracting business from small and midsize companies the past two years. It's hoping a successful capital raise and continued branch expansion can extend the trend.

The ratings firm evaluated 4,100 loans to assess the state of 41 banks' commercial real estate risk. It found that the lenders should be holding, on average, about twice the amount of reserves they currently have for office loans.

Former employees of the Austin-based City National Bank still recall the 1981 flood that deluged the city and Whole Foods, and they take pride in the lender's role in rescuing what was then a fledgling health food store.

With the Federal Reserve holding interest rates at elevated levels through the first half of the year, analysts are sharpening their collective focus on possible fallout from high deposit and borrowing costs.

Executives from Citi and TDECU teased their plans for digital lending at American Banker's Digital Banking conference this week.

Large and regional banks again proved their resiliency in the Fed's annual exams. But analysts noted that a few lenders faced some negative surprises — a development that may scuttle investor hopes for share buybacks by those banks.

Funding Circle US fought to win a coveted license to make SBA 7(a) loans only to see its London-based parent company agree to a sale before it could make its first government-guaranteed loan

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau extended the deadline for lenders with the highest volume of small-business loans to July 18, 2025, and will not assess penalties for reporting errors for a year.

This year Texas banks dominated American Banker's annual list of the top-performing larger community banks. See which institution came in at No. 1 for this asset class.