Retail & Commercial

Midsize businesses and state and local governments are among the beneficiaries of the central bank's latest $2 trillion effort to mitigate the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Many states are offering additional flexibility as more consumers dip into their savings as a result of the pandemic’s economic fallout.

Many banks were hitting their limits for lending to small businesses devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. They say the Fed's decisions to help fund additional loans and relax capital requirements will resolve many of their problems.

Customers in the challenger bank's pilot program drew down an average of $200 each in advance of the government's $1,200 payments.

The maneuver could delay efforts by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to add another $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.

The majority of small businesses faced a financial challenge last year and that was before the pandemic curtailed consumer demand and forced nonessential companies to close.

The Fed's actions are designed to ensure the flow of credit to midsize businesses and state and local governments hit hard by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank will be allowed to exceed the limit to enable it to make more small business loans; the CEOs of HSBC and StanChart are also donating part of their pay to coronavirus victim charities.

Upgrade's hybrid loan-card product can now be used without swiping as consumers and retail workers seek to minimize spread of novel coronavirus.

Closed showrooms, temporary bans on repossessions and a sudden spike in unemployment have dimmed the prospects of a sector that has boomed since the last recession.