Marketplace lending

"Virtually every venture capitalist I know is excited about insurance as the next big thing in fintech," says Sam Hodges, co-founder and U.S. managing director at Funding Circle.

Fintech companies can help consumers and small businesses obtain credit at lower costs, but it is critical to ensure that these innovative companies do not harm borrowers with predatory or discriminatory lending practices.

Reader reactions to criticism of Jamie Dimon, the House GOP ganging up on Richard Cordray, a bank's decision to part with Excel to measure credit losses, and more.

Upgrade, an online lender started by former Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche, will tout credit monitoring and education features to stand out in a crowded field.

Digital lenders have been partnering with banks to get around state-by-state usury caps, but that approach is facing tougher scrutiny.

Following a wave of layoffs, credit concerns and funding issues in 2016, marketplace lenders entered 2017 on "much stronger footing," says Sam Hodges, co-founder and U.S. managing director at Funding Circle.

As online lenders and their vendors step up monitoring, patterns of fraud are emerging.

Ann Marie Mehlum, who has joined a lending platform called SmartBiz Loans after stints as a community banker and an SBA official, says the combination of fintech and old-fashioned banking could bring back small-business loans under $100,000.

None of the initial steps banks can take to modernize business lending are cutting-edge innovation ideas, but they can still improve the borrowing experience, giving businesses fewer reasons to look elsewhere.

Jim Rosenthal previously served as chief operating officer at the Wall Street investment bank. He joins the board of an online lender that has recorded losses in five straight quarters.

David Cotney, former Massachusetts banking commissioner, will guide compliance for the New Jersey bank, a critical partner for many fintech startups.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency can give lenders relief from the effects of a recent court decision over interest rate authority, but only if the agency chooses to do so.

In a Q&A, CommonBond CEO David Klein discusses how an OCC charter might benefit customers by lowering the cost to run a student loan refinancing business.

Banks are losing wealthier underbanked customers to alternative lenders — an undercurrent that is halting progress in expanding credit access for all.

Social Finance's online borrowers are defaulting at higher rates than underwriters for one of its bond deals had expected, the latest sign that an industry that hoped to upend banking is now getting tripped up by bad loans.

Several startups have announced new funding rounds in the last month. They plan to use the cash to improve their products and ramp up sales.

Host Brett King reports from this week's LendIt conference in New York.

By relying heavily on where a borrower went to college, online lenders may run afoul with regulators and could be missing out on good credits.

No fees, no automated voice response and lots of direct mail are among the investment bank’s tactics for its consumer fintech venture.

The Kennesaw, Ga.-based firm, which makes online installment loans to borrowers with blemished credit records, currently operates in 14 states.