Marketplace lending

In a move to strengthen the PayPal Working Capital program, the online payments giant has agreed to acquire the small-business capital lender Swift Financial.

The largest banks are approving small-business loan applications at the fastest rate since the recession, a sign that that they are willing to assume more risk and taking seriously the threat of competition from online lenders.

Heather Tuason is now chief product officer of StreetShares, an online lending and investing platform.

Young businesses often prefer banks, especially community banks, over online lenders. However, traditional lenders need to make quicker decisions, simplify the application process and make other improvements, these customers say.

The online consumer lender reported a net loss of $25.4 million, bringing its red ink in the five most recent quarterly reports to more than $200 million.

The online lender said it is on track to hit its goal of becoming profitable by yearend. It also extended a partnership agreement with JPMorgan Chase.

It is the latest of several popular apps to close down in recent weeks.

The app, formerly known as BillGuard and a favorite of many fintech insiders, helped users protect their identities and monitor their credit scores.

The Riverwoods, Ill., company is trying to assure Wall Street that its higher chargeoff rates signal a return to normalcy, rather than a cause for alarm.

CircleUp is offering lines of credit to early-stage consumer brands, which can often only get financing at high interest rates.