Coronavirus

Midsize businesses and state and local governments are among the beneficiaries of the central bank's latest $2 trillion effort to mitigate the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Many banks were hitting their limits for lending to small businesses devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. They say the Fed's decisions to help fund additional loans and relax capital requirements will resolve many of their problems.

Customers in the challenger bank's pilot program drew down an average of $200 each in advance of the government's $1,200 payments.

Commonwealth of Australia (CBA) reports digital wallet users spent a AUS$1 billion (about $630 million) in March 2020, a high for the bank that's part of an acceleration to digital wallets and contactless cards during the coronavirus crisis.

The maneuver could delay efforts by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to add another $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.

The majority of small businesses faced a financial challenge last year and that was before the pandemic curtailed consumer demand and forced nonessential companies to close.

Critics who argue this crisis mirrors the 2008 financial panic when Congress bailed out banks have it wrong. The new relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic was necessary to save livelihoods, and more can be done.

The coronavirus e-commerce push is likely to be permanent as consumers get used to digital payments, but that also gives rise to new fraud threats.

The Fed's actions are designed to ensure the flow of credit to midsize businesses and state and local governments hit hard by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank will be allowed to exceed the limit to enable it to make more small business loans; the CEOs of HSBC and StanChart are also donating part of their pay to coronavirus victim charities.

The industry is grappling with how to thank member-facing staff while also determining how newly mandated leave laws will impact them.

Fintechs, startups and bank-led projects were already working to excise generations of inefficiencies out of supply chains. The coronavirus has heightened the need for smooth payments.

With the government pumping trillions of new spending into the economy, experts are questioning the Federal Reserve's ability to keep prices stable.

Closed showrooms, temporary bans on repossessions and a sudden spike in unemployment have dimmed the prospects of a sector that has boomed since the last recession.

The agency overhauled its system for the Paycheck Protection Program on Wednesday. Lenders hope it addresses the access issues and a crash that bedeviled the effort’s first week.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Treasury secretary that the Financial Stability Oversight Council should create a liquidity facility to deal with a flood of forbearance requests brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

As retailers search for ways to reduce shoppers’ exposure to coronavirus, smaller merchants are reaping some unexpected improvements in checkout speed and convenience.

Community advocates would like to see changes to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, but say regulators should suspend such efforts until the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

Pinnacle Bankshares and Virginia Bank Bankshares said the move will let each bank focus more on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The amount of money migrant workers send to their home countries usually holds up well in a crisis. Not this time.