Economy

California regulators on Monday identified 14 companies that the state is targeting as part of its recently announced inquiry into the marketplace lending industry.

The Irvine, Calif.-based company plans to offer subprime borrowers the ability to get an auto loan online or through a smartphone.

Under Jill Castilla, the once-sleepy Citizens has been transformed into a thoroughly modern institution that has become a model for other small banks trying to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive financial services marketplace. For that reason and more, she is one of American Banker's three community bankers of the year.

The first state inquiry into marketplace lending is seeking information from a broad mix of companies, including consumer lenders, small-business lenders, and firms that are not primarily in the lending business.

WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be able to evaluate and use new credit scoring models under a bill introduced in the House that seeks to create more competition in the credit scoring industry.

Community bank executives are wary about the year ahead. Cybersecurity threats, the real possibility of even tighter margins after the Federal Reserve acts, and compliance woes are among their concerns.

California officials have opened a broad inquiry into the marketplace lending business, seeking data from industry participants that will be used to assess the effectiveness of the state's current regulatory regime.

A modern version of the Depression-era law would not only make banks safer, but it would also reduce compliance costs and erase the need for certain capital mandates.

The Dec. 2 mass shooting has shone a light on the sector's vulnerability to borrowers who, exploiting the absence of face-to-face contact on the Internet, lie on their loan applications.

Despite their own vast resources, some large banks are partnering with fintech startups to help them meet the needs of one of their trickiest market segments: small businesses

The best commercial lenders take enough interest in their clients to speak up when they see credit as not serving the long-term success of a company.

Eileen Serra, 61, the chief executive of the Chase Card Services unit, will step down in January and become an adviser to the company on growth initiatives, according to a memo Wednesday from Gordon Smith, JPMorgan's CEO of consumer and community banking.

Washington Federal is the latest bank to partner with a tech company in an effort to streamline online loan applications.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council is an enigmatic interagency body that has not provided enough rationale for designating certain insurance firms as a threat to the economy, the Republican leadership of the House Financial Services Committee said Tuesday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Calvin Hagins warned mortgage lenders about the regulatory agency's four exam priorities for next year: loan-officer compensation, steps taken to ensure borrowers' ability to repay, compliance with "Know Before You Owe" consumer disclosures, and marketing services agreements.

Small-business owners' optimism about the economy is dwindling, which casts a dark cloud over banks' lending efforts, according to a new survey conducted by Wells Fargo and Gallup.

Why a small bank like First Mid-Illinois ignored the conventional wisdom — 'Commercial banks buy property/casualty firms.' 'Private-equity will outbid you.' 'Leave the innovation to the big guys.' — and bought a retail health-insurance agency.

Ex-banker Frank Rotman, now a venture capitalist who focuses on marketplace lending, has a unique vantage point on the competition for small-business loans between banks and Web-based upstarts, as well as on both sides' strengths and weaknesses.

The upcoming release of the evaluations for the largest banks' resolution plans won't just reflect on the institutions themselves, but the regulators as well. Here's why.

Two independent mortgage banks agreed to settlements in the past week with the Justice Department for failing to meet Federal Housing Administration guidelines. The cases are a warning to nonbank lenders that they need to beef up self-reporting of deficiencies, and they remind large banks about the legal risks associated with FHA lending.