Marketplace lending

A long-term discussion about rethinking rules of the credit market is worth having, but for right now Congress should restore clarity by correcting the Second Circuit’s mistake.

Mike Cagney’s eventual successor will have to decide whether to continue his focus on rapid growth. Also on the table are strategic decisions about when to go public and whether to pursue a bank charter.

The chief executive officer of Social Finance is stepping down before the end of the year amid sexual harassment accusations leveled at one of the most valuable financial technology startups.

Millennials — many of whom joined credit unions in recent years as the movement's membership expanded — are relying more heavily on personal loans than their Gen X predecessors while paring back on credit cards and mortgages.

It’s highly debatable whether the artificial intelligence engines that online lenders typically use, and that banks are just starting to deploy, are capable of making credit decisions without inadvertent prejudices.

The Wall Street giant on Wednesday played up its customer service skills, saying that representatives of its Marcus personal-loan unit answer calls within 10 seconds.

Snap Finance provides credit at the point of sale, primarily to consumers with bad credit.

Sure, personal loans have a long way to go to catch up in market share with other forms of consumer credit, but millennials are relying more heavily on them than their Gen X predecessors while paring back on credit cards and mortgages. Online lenders are a big reason, and banks are exploring ways to adjust to changing habits.

The startup, which offered credit lines of up to $1,000, hoped to tap into the millennial generation's frustration with overdraft fees.

The $2.6 trillion-asset bank's recent commitment to digital lending augurs the development of a two-tier market for borrowers who want fast access to cash.