Auto lending

The sharp fall in gas prices early this year helped U.S. consumers to stay current on their credit obligations during the first quarter.

Frustrated by low yields on commercial and real estate loans, banks are finding innovative ways to beef up their consumer loan books. They are creating new business lines, teaming with established retailers, even partnering with alternative lenders in an effort to diversify and generate new streams of revenue.

Tim Sloan, president and COO at Wells Fargo, is widely viewed as next in line to take over as CEO of the bank. He discussed the speculation — as well as energy lending, credit standards, living wills and a number of other topics — in a recent interview.

Credit quality has improved across the industry over the past few years, but don't expect that trend to continue because of several economic forces, big-bank CEOs said Thursday.

The credit rating agency argues in a new report that the financing arms of auto manufacturers are better positioned than banks to withstand a widely expected decline in used-car prices. The report also finds that the quality of auto loans made by banks has been declining.

New research findings challenge common assumptions about borrower behavior, illustrating how trended data — something mortgage lenders will soon be required to collect — could be a game-changer.

As drilling has slowed, energy firms have had to lay off workers, many of whom are falling behind on their bills – compounding the troubles of banks already dealing with higher commercial loan delinquencies in the same markets.

Big banks began ceding market share to midsize and small subprime auto lenders, who they said were taking too many risks. Now prominent midsize player Santander Consumer is putting on the brakes and complaining about small, overly daring rivals. How bad a sign is that?

Profits fell double digits at Santander Consumer USA Holdings in Dallas in connection with its exit from the personal loan business and other nagging issues.

Ally Financial reported strong loan and deposit growth in the first quarter, but a shift in the makeup of its automobile loan portfolio forced the Detroit company to nearly double its loan-loss provision from a year earlier.

TCF Financial in Wayzata, Minn., reported sharply higher profits driven by gains on the sale of auto loans even as auto-related chargeoffs rose.

Ally Financial has blasted a proxy advisory firm for its recommendation that shareholders vote against the re-election of four of the Detroit company's directors.

B of A is normally thought of as a U.S. economic bellwether, but it has substantial operations overseas, and its international performance last quarter provided a painful reminder of that fact.

The world knows JPMorgan's quarterly profits fell and that it flunked the living wills test. But underneath all that were solid first-quarter results in its core lending businesses that bode well for other banks at the start of earnings season.

The deal to buy TradeKing would allow the online-only bank to offer wealth-building products to its roughly 1.1 million depositors. The additional low-cost deposits could also help fund loan growth as it looks to expand beyond auto lending and into mortgages and credit cards.

GOP lawmakers and witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pointedly criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, setting the stage for a likely contentious hearing with the agency's director later in the week.

Ally Financial announced Tuesday that it had agreed to buy the online brokerage firm TradeKing Group for approximately $275 million. TradeKing, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has roughly $4.5 billion in client assets.

The Dallas-based subprime consumer lender backed off controversial changes to its method for calculating its quarterly provisions for loan losses, forcing it to revise earnings downward for the last two years. It also announced that it had found more accounting issues.

Competition is spurring subprime auto lenders to stretch their underwriting guidelines for new customers, raising fears of another bust. In February, 5.16% of securitized subprime auto loans were at least 60 days past due, according to Fitch Ratings. That slightly exceeded the level of late payments at the height of the Great Recession. Here's a guide to who's doing what in the market, courtesy of our colleagues at Asset Securitization Report.

Credit unions have a dominant auto lending presence in the West, boasting as much as a 50% market share in some areas. Credit Union Journal explores what is driving that dominance.