Lending

On Dec. 31, 2016. Dollars in thousands.

Startups believe artificial intelligence will make loan officers obsolete, and that may be true. But it remains to be seen if AI will make lending safer.

On Dec. 31, 2016. Dollars in thousands.

Research shows younger consumers are increasingly interested in personalized products and services, but credit unions may lose out on business if they don’t have aggregation tools that can compete with fintech lenders.

In addition to 11.5 percent loan growth and membership rising at its fastest rate since 1987, membership at Michigan's CUs is growing faster than the state's population.

When one considers the available data on bank lending, there is a lot more to the story. The solid loan growth at commercial banks in recent years has been concentrated in some of the sectors that appear least in need of credit.

The federal agency released data culled from fourth quarter 2016 call reports that showed the "great divide" between large and small credit unions continues to widen.

On Dec. 31, 2016. Dollars in thousands.

Critics of Dodd-Frank argue that post-crisis regulations put a damper on lending. But loan growth at regional and community banks has "actually been very strong," says Joo-Yung Lee, head of North American financial institutions at Fitch Ratings.

Though backward-looking, the exam restricts the company from buying banks or opening branches outside the Northeast.