Commercial lending

Regions Financial's chief credit officer is leading a transformation in the way the company manages risk in its loan portfolio.

The Pittsburgh company benefited from loan growth and higher interest rates, though fee income fell and expense rose in the third quarter.

The company had strong gains in construction lending and trust fee income, but its business lending operation had flat results.

In the digital age, a lot has changed about how businesses operate — and a lot of new data is being generated in the process. American Express is tapping into this data for instant credit decisions.

The Tennessee bank said it has bought Professional Mortgage in Greenville, S.C., which services about $1.1 billion of commercial mortgage loans for 23 correspondent life company lenders.

Efforts to make it easier for smaller businesses to apply for SBA loans, coupled by concerted expansion efforts among key regional and community banks, contributed to the third consecutive record for 7(a) lending.

The tech giant won praise from consumer groups for its decision to ban ads for high-cost consumer loans. But the policy contains a big loophole, and advertisers have found multiple ways to exploit it.

A 38% increase in new loan originations led to another quarter of record earnings.

On Jun. 30, 2017. Dollars in thousands.

Demand for commercial loans has been weak for much of the past year and among the big questions bank executives will face this earnings season is when they can expect the pace to finally pick up.