Small business lending

Block, the digital-payments firm run by Jack Dorsey, is expanding its small-business loans service to Canada, bringing it into more direct competition with the country's biggest banks.

Lenders don't oppose CFPB data collection for small-business loans but favor changes that would minimize unintended consequences for borrowers, a Consumer Bankers Association official writes.

Banks have supported initiatives aimed at closing the racial equality gap but the industry risks undermining this by fighting new rules to gather demographic data on small-business lending.

California and New York were the first states to require the disclosure of certain pricing information to small-business borrowers. But as Utah, Virginia and other states add regulations for nonbank lenders, a fault line has emerged over the use of annual percentage rates.

JPMorgan Chase is planning to use its recently acquired stake in the Greek payments firm Viva Wallet to support lending to small businesses across Europe, an ambition that would introduce a rare cohesion to the Continent’s fragmented banking markets.

Institutions are hiring aggressively or buying up competitors to take part in an equipment finance boom as the economy continues to heal.

The White House's $5.8 trillion spending proposal to Congress includes more dollars for anti-money-laundering enforcement, Small Business Administration loan guarantee programs and affordable housing financed by community development financial institutions.

Prosecutors say Rafael Martinez and his company, MBE Capital, used false information to reap more than $71 million in fees from loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program.

Most loans to mortuaries are backed by the Small Business Administration, so they are capped at $5 million. The Delaware lender is teaming with an industry insurer to offer much larger loans to funeral home owners seeking to acquire rivals or refinance operations.

Last year, just 30% of small-business owners received the total funding they were seeking, down from 51% just two years earlier, according to a new Federal Reserve survey. The findings suggest that two years into the pandemic, banks are having a difficult time assessing risk.

Almost 350,000 loans made to small businesses in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t been forgiven, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of Paycheck Protection Program data, and most of them are for less than $25,000. 

DoorDash, the U.S.’s biggest meal-delivery service, is launching a financing arm to offer business loans to restaurants on its app.

Banks that rank high on a Fintech Similarity Score made the most government-backed small-business loans outside their local area, a study found.

On Sep. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The Indiana bank announced a five-year, $8.3 billion agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in connection with its acquisition of First Midwest Bancorp. The Federal Reserve approved the purchase last month.

The Pennsylvania bank is working with the data provider Enigma and Capital One on a platform they are hoping other banks will use. The technology handles all aspects of the loans and provides data and analytics on borrowers.

The company sold small businesses a credit-building product that fell short of its promises, and also failed to help them fix inaccuracies in their credit reports, according to the Federal Trade Commission. D&B has agreed to give refunds to many customers.

Though the dining sector has been hit hard by COVID-19, restaurateurs have pivoted to drive-thru and curbside options, and rising grocery prices are making eating out comparatively less pricey.

Asenso Finance and a community development financial institution, the National Asian American Coalition, have developed a loan aimed at borrowers with limited credit histories. The underwriting relies in part on alternative data and borrowers are required to take financial literacy courses.

A few changes to underwriting rules could result in a huge opportunity for both lenders and minority women who own businesses.