Credit

While banks are reporting steady declines in deferrals, hard-hit borrowers such as airlines, commercial real estate developers and hotel operators will almost certainly struggle to regain their footing.

Demand for buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in the U.S. is surging as cash-strapped consumers welcome the opportunity to get instant loans minus any official credit inquiry.

The emergence of vaccines has boosted travel forecasts — and crude prices. The expected bump at the pump could help oil and gas companies get back on track with loan payments.

Some lenders are poring over commercial portfolios more frequently than normal — perhaps as often as once a month — to uncover problems hidden by payment deferrals and government stimulus before it's too late.

Investors are flocking to point of sale credit firms, which have emerged as a popular option during a time of economic stress. And market dynamics suggest more upside even as traditional payment competitors enter the fray.

Hospitality sector credits are coming out of forbearance just as coronavirus cases surge. Restructurings and charge-offs could mount unless vaccine distribution happens quickly enough to jump-start travel by mid-2021.

Companies like Affirm and Klarna have been a beacon for investors, leading to at least one multibillion-dollar planned IPO in support of a point-of-purchase lending model that could set the stage for use cases well beyond credit.

The Ohio company will benefit after settling unpaid judgments tied to nonperforming loans at a bank it bought before the last financial crisis.

The Federal Housing Administration said in its annual actuarial report that the capital reserve ratio on its mutual mortgage insurance fund increased to 6.10% in fiscal year 2020, up from 4.84% a year earlier.

Lending opportunities have become scarce, especially with commercial borrowers, and banks are resisting the temptation to relax standards to boost volume.

The cross-border e-commerce market is set to pass the $1 trillion mark in 2020, providing a huge addressable market for Afterpay's buy now, pay later expansion.

In a bid to fuel online sales, Barclaycard is partnering with Amazon in Germany to offer installment lending to overcome the country’s low credit card ownership rates.

While national banks have remained strong during the pandemic, they are still navigating risks from a murky credit environment and other potential warnings signs, according to a report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The region now leads the nation in virus cases, and with winter lurking the fear is that the outbreak will only get worse.

Michael Moeser, Senior Analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Alex Fisher, Vice President of Retail at Afterpay, an Australian company, about the factors behind the growth of the global 'buy now, pay later' market.

A prosperous decade leading up to the pandemic had left lenders in good shape, but they're worried the economic shock to the state's most vital industry could linger into 2022.

Credit is tightening to 2008 levels at a time when small businesses need help the most, former SBA chief Karen Gordon Mills says.

The effort is the first offshoot of Project REACh, which is designed to bring together business leaders, government officials and advocates to help improve financial services options for disadvantaged communities.

The New Jersey company reported a quarterly loss after becoming one of the first lenders to liquidate loans harmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lenders pushed back against the notion that city dwellers' pandemic-driven flight to suburbia would hurt them. They say fewer landlords have sought deferrals as vacancy rates remain low and rent collections have stabilized.