Commercial lending

Lower tax rates won’t be unqualified good news for banks, as a lower rate would reduce the savings that they get from making tax-exempt loans to cities, counties and other governmental agencies.

SBA lending is on a tear. Gulf Coast Bank & Trust is the latest institution to dive into doing this activity nationwide after buying CapitalSpring.

On Dec. 31, 2016. Dollars in thousands.

Better access to credit, an improving revenue picture and promises of regulatory relief are bolstering the confidence of small-business owners.

Host Brett King reports from this week's LendIt conference in New York.

The sale to Tokyo Century Corp. will help accelerate CIT's transformation into a more traditional small-business and middle-market lender.

The mutual's conversion could bring in up to $22.5 million in proceeds.

By relying heavily on where a borrower went to college, online lenders may run afoul with regulators and could be missing out on good credits.

The New York bank will double in size while gaining greater access to Long Island and low-cost deposits that should come in handy as interest rates rise.

No fees, no automated voice response and lots of direct mail are among the investment bank’s tactics for its consumer fintech venture.

The public-private effort, aimed at expansion-minded tech and other companies with proven track records, would be backed by the country’s six largest banks, insurance companies and regional lenders.

The Kennesaw, Ga.-based firm, which makes online installment loans to borrowers with blemished credit records, currently operates in 14 states.

The Innovative Lending Platform Association and the Coalition for Responsible Business Finance announced Monday that they are joining forces.

Personal financial management tools have long relied on financial data aggregation. Now, aggregators are hoping traditional lenders will take a cue from alternative lenders and use the technology to quicken their underwriting decisions.

Much like how Amazon went from selling books to selling cloud services, the online lenders that succeed well into the future will change how they do business, Scott Sanborn said.

Credit unions are working with crowdfunding platforms to help businesses find additional capital.

Vacancies and rent-slashing have some banks worried that certain markets are overheating, but others say the decline in nonperforming loans is a sign the sector has never been healthier.

The San Carlos, Calif., firm is following a similar blueprint as other online lenders — launching with a particular loan product, refining its algorithms, and then seeking to expand into other corners of consumer finance.

KPMG said Webster did not properly document a change in the way it calculates its provision for loan losses. The bank does not expect to restate its results or incur any meaningful increase in costs because of the problem.

It would encourage tighter underwriting of commercial mortgages, something the investors say is sorely needed.