Commercial lending

A new class of fintech startups is using loan applicants' social networks to determine creditworthiness as the banking industry debates the merits of alternate underwriting methods.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., reported fourth-quarter earnings of $42.8 million, a 12.2% drop from a year earlier as the company set aside a significantly higher amount of money to address potential problems in its energy portfolio.

The collapse in oil prices hammered fourth-quarter profits at Hancock Holding as the Gulfport, Miss., sharply boosted its loan-loss provision address weakness in its energy loan book.

At least five regional banks on Thursday discarded concerns about the global economy, stocks, interest rates and credit quality, forecasting loan growth for the rest of this year.

Fourth-quarter earnings reports probably couldn't have been scheduled for a worse time. Banks reported results (and sometimes good ones) right as the markets and the price of oil tanked. The cold reception from investors and analysts is a reminder of how sometimes the analysis of a banks' numbers has little to do with the past quarter, and more to do what's going on right now.

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, reported higher fourth-quarter earnings, citing increases in commercial and auto lending and fees from deposit accounts and payment processing.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., is the latest bank to partner with an online lender, announcing an agreement Thursday to refer certain small-business customers to OnDeck Capital.

LendUp, which makes subprime consumer loans online and over mobile phones, announced Wednesday that it has raised $50 million in equity funding, plus an additional $100 million in debt financing.

BlueVine, a Palo Alto, Calif., firm that is aiming to modernize the invoice-financing business, announced a new fundraising round on Wednesday.

The Current Expected Loss Credit model will help to quantify bankers' intuition and can be built with readily available data.