Commercial lending

The Kennesaw, Ga.-based company, which targets borrowers with blemished credit records, has acquired LoanHero, which specializes in loans at the cash register.

Banks that have flocked to the business because of higher yields and loan diversity stand to benefit if clients use tax savings to upgrade equipment.

The CDFI formerly known as Progreso Financiero targets consumers with little or no credit history.

The payments company will pay $321 million for Crestmark Bank, a commercial lender that focuses on asset-based lending, equipment finance and government-guaranteed loans.

The late-payment rate on loans frequently used to consolidate credit card debt hit its highest level in more than four years.

The company tapped a new president for the business, which it will also rebrand, after hiring a team from Scottrade Bank in Missouri.

The Carson City-based credit union now has three wholly owned subsidiaries.

United will pay $130 million for NLFC Holdings, the parent company of Navitas Credit.

The Minneapolis bank is the first bank to join Community Reinvestment Fund's online service that matches small-business borrowers who don’t qualify for bank loans with community development financial institutions.

A number of banks, especially those with extra real estate on their hands, are trying to capitalize on the co-working craze to appeal to fledgling companies that could become success stories — and their customers.

How new developments on many fronts are going to affect the banking business in the coming year and beyond — and what bankers can do to prepare.

Banks have been in full cost-cutting mode in recent years, but with profits expected to increase substantially as a result of tax reform, all analysts and investors want to know is how they plan to spend their tax savings.

Intrust Bank has agreed to purchase $20 million worth of Funding Circle's small-business loans in what could just be the beginning of a long-term relationship.

Changing political and economic forces are raising new questions about deployment of tax savings and the cost of deposits, while old concerns about cost-cutting, credit quality and risk-taking persist or return.

Credit unions make strategic hires, promotions to beef up their loan departments and other professionals in the news.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., has emerged as one of the most outspoken members of Congress when it comes to fintech, both embracing its potential and calling for regulatory guardrails.

Startups that have developed the technology for real estate finance are starting to conduct a broader array of transactions, including property sales.

The two payments companies failed to win U.S. government approval for their merger; the head of the Senate Finance Committee says he will leave when his term ends.

Kevin Stein, who runs a private equity firm, has also supervised banking groups at Barclays and FBR Capital Markets.

Doug Bowers contends that last year’s leadership shake-up, job cuts and corporate governance overhaul will make the company more competitive in its home state.