Commercial lending

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.

Moody's managing director Will Black notes that P-to-P firms are growing at a time when credit losses are low, and argues that the companies' loan-servicing operations will become more important over time.

A Federal Trade Commission crackdown on a failed Kickstarter campaign may presage closer government scrutiny of peer-to-peer lending.

Wells Fargo and Toronto-Dominion Bank are exploring offers for a batch of U.S. commercial-lending businesses General Electric is selling as whittles down its finance arm.

The Spanish-language TV channel Univision has launched a new online small-business lending platform.

Marketplace lending company Lending Club is teaming up with a California-based nonprofit organization to make loans to small businesses that otherwise would have had their applications rejected.

Prosper Marketplace, the first peer-to- peer lender in the U.S., is planning to charge an extra fee to investors who want to bundle its loans into bonds in order to offset its increased costs from the securitization process.

CommonBond, a marketplace lender specializing in private student loans, announced its first securitization Wednesday.

The warehouse retail chain's partnerships with LendingClub and SmartBiz illustrate how bank branches are becoming less relevant in the lives of small-business owners.

The P-to-P industry in Britain has remained focused on individual investors, even as American firms have been courting institutional money. But the two markets may finally be starting to converge.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will prioritize requests for temporary office space and waive certain document-filing rules for Texas and Oklahoma banks affected by recent storms.