Retail & Commercial

South Dakota's Senate Commerce and Energy Committee was scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on a state Revenue Department proposal to open a state debt collection office.

Peer-to-peer and institution-to-small business loan marketplace Funding Circle launched a new fractional loan marketplace today, the San Francisco company announced.

Prosper Marketplace, the online lending platform that arranges funding for unsecured consumer loans, announced its first takeover Tuesday, paying $21 million to buy American HealthCare Lending. The target offers loans for elective medical procedures.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., reported a sharp rise in fourth-quarter profit on loan growth, lower expenses, improved credit quality and other factors.

Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City reported lower quarterly profit on higher expenses.

The traditional method of measuring mortgage denials is fundamentally flawed. Evaluating not just the quantity but also the quality of mortgage applicants can give a clearer picture of actual denial rates.

Wells Financial in Wells, Minn., has installed an interim leader after the resignation of its chief executive.

SVB Financial Group in Santa Clara, Calif., is planning to issue $350 million in senior debt.

Central Valley Community Bancorp in Fresno, Calif., will soon have a new chief executive.

The Federal Reserve appears to have looked at Bitcoin as a potential set of rails for real-time payments in the banking system but shelved the concept for now.