Nonbank

Peer-to-peer and institution-to-small business loan marketplace Funding Circle launched a new fractional loan marketplace today, the San Francisco company announced.

California's Department of Business Oversight said Friday that it will drop its effort to suspend Ocwen Loan Servicing's mortgage license in California. The Atlanta servicer had failed for more than a year to provide its California regulator with requested information

BB&T and KeyCorp's quarterly results showed how more diversified regional banks can turn to their insurance sales, investment banking and other fee generators for backup until interest rates improve. Whereas the smaller Huntington Bancshares needed strong loan growth in a quarter (and year) when fees fell.

U.S. banks are cutting off payday lenders' access to a database of account information used to evaluate potential borrowers as regulators seek to rein in abusive practices.

A Wall Street lobbying group said President Barack Obama's plan to raise $110 billion over the next decade through a new tax on financial companies could stifle economic growth and make banks less likely to lend.

Facing the prospect of losing its license in California, Ocwen would be wise to settle its probe by state regulators in a timely manner, observers said. If it doesn't, the mortgage servicer could lose significant revenue and might even face a cash crunch.

FS Card announced Thursday that Republic Bank & Trust in Louisville, Ky., will issue its new subprime credit card, which is scheduled to be launched this spring.

Online lending marketplaces claim that they will revolutionize the financial services industry. But financial companies need a lot more than high-tech prowess to achieve sustained success.

A San Diego-based debt collector has agreed to pay $675,000 in civil penalties and give up $18 million won in court fights against 4,500 consumers, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday.

As with any marriage, banks that forge alliances with tech companies need to make sure they really know their partners. They may also want to consider a prenup.

Home values have risen fastest in markets where institutional buyers bought up scores of foreclosed homes and then rented them out. But these investor have largely curtailed their buying, and may even be ready to start selling off more properties to profit from the run-up in home prices. That could be good news for first-time buyers.

American Banker has named online marketplace lending the Innovation of the Year. Matt Burton, CEO of Orchard Platform, explains how this booming business evolved out of peer-to-peer lending and whether alternative finance firms are competing with banks.

Orchard Platform CEO Matt Burton discusses how online marketplace lenders use data and technology to speed lending and improve transparency.

Online marketplace lending, a mushrooming business in the U.S. and the U.K., could take hold elsewhere, says Matt Burton, whose Orchard Platform is looking to expand its lender-support and analytical services internationally.

The CFPB sued Sprint on Wednesday, claiming it allowed illegal charges onto customer's cell phone bills. The case is likely to be a test of whether the agency has the power to oversee telecommunications firms.

Officials at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae all heaped praise on nonbank mortgage lenders for stepping up to provide loans for home purchases at a time when many banks have scaled back.

The billionaire investor George Soros is in talks to throw his support behind the peer-to-peer finance industry, which is increasingly leaning on traditional capital sources to lower its costs of funding.

Growing income inequality is said to be a major reason most consumers plan to spend the same or less than last year on holiday shopping, and it could hurt bank and credit union revenues in the fourth quarter and present them other long-term challenges.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Stability Oversight Council needs a more formal system for monitoring its process for designating nonbanks as "systemically important," a watchdog said Thursday.