Retail & Commercial

The Biden administration will award $1.25 billion to hundreds of community lenders in an effort to speed the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Vice President Kamala Harris will announce on Tuesday.

KMD Partners, which makes high-interest rate loans through its CreditNinja brand, has agreed to acquire the $11.7 million-asset Liberty Bank. The purchase is likely to draw scrutiny, but the companies argue that it will help borrowers with lower credit scores qualify for less expensive loans.

The lender's founder and CEO says the acquisition of Roscoe State Bank will give it new products and referral sources.

Car sales are booming, but credit unions are financing fewer purchases of new vehicles as borrowers migrate to digital channels.

Bank of Montreal picked Amazon.com’s web-services division as its preferred cloud provider to help the bank modernize operations and introduce new digital applications.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank is adding three branches in Lexington, with plans for a fourth next year.

On Mar. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Fears of widespread credit losses have largely subsided, but demand for new commercial real estate loans remains lackluster because many companies are sitting on so much cash they don’t need to borrow. Meanwhile, competition from private equity groups and other nonbank lenders is escalating.

Any bank that engages in auto, mortgage or other retail lending should develop a comprehensive program to identify potential risks of noncompliance with consumer protection rules and take corrective actions before the Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes calling.

Chief operating officer Sam Sidhu takes over as president and chief executive on July 1. He has a list of 25 potential markets the Pennsylvania bank might enter, and has already begun hiring commercial bankers in Texas, Florida and Illinois.