Marketplace lending

BlueVine, a Palo Alto, Calif., firm that is aiming to modernize the invoice-financing business, announced a new fundraising round on Wednesday.

LoanHero, an online lender specializing in consumer loans at the cash register, announced that it has raised $2.5 million in seed funding.

Online lenders like Aprenita, Payability and Pollen VC have all launched within the last 13 months to fill a need they say is not being met by traditional banks, and only partially by venture capitalists and invoice-financing companies.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Fundation Group, an online small-business lender, has hired an industry veteran as its first chief operating officer.

A compilation of our favorite stories of 2015, as selected by the people who assigned and edited them.

Maybe disruptors, not bankers, are the ones who need to worry about an abrupt paradigm shift. Though many bankers fear having fintech startups pick off the most profitable parts of their business, history suggests this "unbundling" of banks is a recurring, temporary phenomenon that is generally followed by a period of "rebundling."

The Seattle-based tech giant, in its latest foray into the financial services business, has begun offering installment loans to British consumers.

CommonBond, a New York firm that makes student loans through an online platform, said Tuesday that it has raised more than $275 million in debt funding from Barclays and others.

Opportunities abound, in affordable housing, capital raising, consumer lending and more. We aim to get you thinking about how new developments on many fronts could affect your business as you plan for the coming year and beyond.