Retail & Commercial

Small banks beat out their larger counterparts last month with a bigger jump in approvals for loans to small businesses, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index.

Ocala Funding LLC, a financing vehicle used and controlled by failed Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida.

The San Francisco bank hopes to score points with a corporate customer and consumers by offering financing to buyers of the high-profile electric car.

The real losers would be the biggest banks, the holders of second liens, not investors in first mortgages. Those investors might come out ahead, and homeowners and municipalities certainly would.

Comerica (CMA) in Dallas is the latest bank to announce plans to enter the prepaid card market.

Fidelity National Financial's ServiceLink division acquired DRI Management Systems, while simultaneously rebranding DRI's default servicing workflow platform, in a deal announced Tuesday.

Universal Business Payment Solutions Acquisition (UBPS) has agreed to pay $179 million for three firms that process payments for small businesses.

1st Security Bank of Washington, a troubled former credit union known until 2004 as Washington's CU, announced this afternoon it raised $32.4 million with an initial public offering, the latest credit union-convert to go public.

Deposits are worth buying if you get them at a good price and are making loans, says Stephen Gordon, the chairman and CEO of Opus Bank, which agreed this week to buy 10 branches from PacWest for a 2.5% premium.

Businesses continue to deposit fund in banks as safety trumps yield as an investment priority. The move continues to cause bankers headaches as the funds weigh down balance sheet returns.