Commercial lending

The company has long focused on customers with ties to the two states. But as it emerges from the pandemic seeking new lending opportunities, CEO Rajinder Singh says, “We are looking at markets from Boston all the way down to Atlanta.”

Comerica, which focuses on the energy sector, reported strong payment trends last quarter, while M&T, which concentrates more on real estate, showed deterioration. The divergence reflects varying exposures to sectors hit hard by the COVID-19 recession.

Commercial and industrial loans fell 14.3% in the second quarter. But CEO Chris Gorman says green shoots are emerging, pointing in particular to recent stability in credit line utilization rates.

Mortgages and wealth management generated fees that gave top midtiers an edge, as the pandemic halted most lending outside of the Paycheck Protection Program.

First Women's Bank received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. this week and is set to open its doors in the fall. It is the first new bank to be chartered in Illinois since 2010.

Native American reservations have some of the country's highest concentrations of unbanked households. But tribes are finding ways to get their members access to capital — with or without banks.

Bankers insist borrowing will pick up on the back of a post-pandemic economic recovery. But so far there are few signs of a rebound, and analysts are skeptical one is imminent.

Though the Paycheck Protection Program is winding down, the Small Business Administration has prolonged several other pandemic relief programs. Community banks can help local businesses sort through their options.

Community banks support legislation that would exempt them from paying tax on interest earned from farmland loans, arguing it would make them more competitive with government-backed lenders and expand access to credit in rural areas.

Andrew Harmening, who took the helm of the Wisconsin company in April, pointed to an economy emerging from the pandemic and waning loan deferrals, saying that loan growth could resume by the end of the third quarter.