SBA

The Wilmington, North Carolina, company reported a breakout quarter for loan production, but profits fell as an increase in nonperforming loans led to higher provisioning.

While companies trust banks and typically maintain their core relationship with small businesses, the industry's dominant position is hardly set in stone, according to a survey by American Banker.

Despite strong growth and solid profits, the Miami-based lender, formerly a business development company, still hasn't convinced the market it fits in as a bank.

New Canaan-based Bankwell's digital solution relies on software designed by Lendio to compress the application-to-funding interval and appeal to speed-conscious small-business owners.

Though it has yet to result in any new voters being added to the rolls, SBA is seeking to expand an initiative that has drawn the ire of congressional Republicans, who fear the effort is aimed at boosting Democratic votes.

The Minneapolis-based banking giant is enjoying its biggest year ever for 7(a) lending, with volume up 40%, as borrowers "are still coming to us," its SBA chief said.

The agency admitted navigating the different rules and regulations involved in its four existing lines of credit proved time consuming and confusing and kept some lenders from offering them altogether.

Funding Circle US fought to win a coveted license to make SBA 7(a) loans only to see its London-based parent company agree to a sale before it could make its first government-guaranteed loan

While the $800 billion in PPP loans has largely self-liquidated through the forgiveness process, SBA continues to service the longer-duration EIDL portfolio and will likely be doing so for years to come after opting to hold on to the loans.

Isabel Casillas Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration, wants the agency to get involved in direct lending, a practice that was discontinued during the Clinton administration. Congress has not embraced the idea, to put it mildly.