Commercial lending

After scaling back its U.S. operations, Popular Inc. plans to focus on niche commercial lending markets, including financing for elder care and assisted living facilities.

Ex-banker Sandy Kemper, the chief executive of an online marketplace that allows companies to negotiate over discounted, speedier payments, discusses the future of commercial finance.

RiverNorth Capital Management is seeking to establish a closed-end fund that would serve as a source of permanent capital for so-called peer-to-peer lenders.

Credit Karma in San Francisco has raised $175 million in venture capital to expand its product offerings for consumers' personal finances.

As financial technology transforms the banking industry, experts are placing bets on the banks and startups most likely to thrive in the digital future. Here are seven top contenders, according to insiders from both sides of the divide at last week's Next Bank USA conference in New York.

Moody's managing director Will Black argues that it’s hard to predict the performance of P-to-P loans because of a lack of historical data.

Live Oak Bancshares in Wilmington, N.C., has filed registration documents for an initial public offering, with plans to raise up to $86.3 million.

The regulatory path may also be bumpier for P-to-P lenders that focus on subprime borrowers, predicts Raj Date, a former second-in-command at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Two community banks that focus on underbanked and low-income populations, City First Bank of D.C. and Southern Bancorp in Arkadelphia, Ark., have joined an international group that promotes socially and environmentally responsible development.

Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Lending Club are happy to partner with banks — so long as they get to be the face of customer interactions. But banks may not easily give up that ground.

Austin Capital Bank, a $71.4 million-asset institution based in Texas, will originate loans for a new online consumer lending platform called Self Lender, the two companies announced.

Kabbage, the online small business lender, has announced a partnership to make loans to customers of United Parcel Service, the global delivery firm.

A Seattle-based company is trying to make it easier for individual investors in peer-to-peer loans to cash out early.

Whether you're in the mood to read about the checkered history of the Vatican Bank or how Bitcoin's colorful cast of characters endeavor to shape the future of money, there's a book to suit every taste in this year's recommended reading list. Here's what American Banker's readers, staff and BankThink contributors are taking to the beach this summer.

Steve Apodaca, who recently joined the American Bankers Association, hopes to help farmers navigate falling commodity prices, compete against the Farm Credit System and find ways to lend on new farming technology.

While marketplace lenders like LendingClub and Prosper are at the cutting edge of innovation for now, banks may gain ground eventually. Either way, the competition greatly benefits the expanding pool of borrowers who will have greater access to credit.

The firm widely thought to be Wall Street's smartest is reportedly putting scads of money behind the hypothesis that technology and the use of data analytics will fundamentally reshape lending.

As marketplace lenders, robo-advisers and other startups nibble away at the profitable, customer-facing parts of banking, executives at last week's Digital Banking Summit discussed how banks can defend against "unbundling."

RealtyMogul.com in Los Angeles said it reached agreements for a total of $250 million in capital, which it will use to offer new products.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has named a new head of commercial real estate lending after its current leader resigned.