Flagstar Bank promotes newly hired Jason Birnbaum; Finstar Financial tops $1billion-asset threshold with acquisition of Sitgler; digital platform Bluevine launches checking account for high balances; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Banks across the spectrum of size and location serve small businesses — but they all do it differently. At American Banker's Small Biz Banking 2023 conference in Nashville from November 13-15, banks of all sizes will come together to share ideas, learn from experts and hear from bankers in the field who are doing it best. 

Los Angeles-based Lendistry — in less than two years — became the largest Black-run 7(a) lender. Its CEO credits a concerted effort by the Small Business Administration to reach out to minority lenders and businesses, whose participation in the lending program is growing.

The proposal fails to account for the needs of small and medium-size businesses, which depend on banking data connectivity to keep their operations running.

This week the Small Business Administration followed through with a controversial policy change by granting access to its flagship 7(a) program to three additional nonbank lenders. These new participants vowed to ramp up their small-business lending efforts.

An advocate for retail merchants takes issue with a BankThink article criticizing the Credit Card Competition Act.

A pending new rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on customer data will force banks to improve customer service and be more competitive in their pricing.

The promises made by supporters of the Credit Card Competition Act don't account for all of the ways in which it could actually increase the cost of doing business.

The Biden administration's misguided attempt to protect the banking system from itself will reduce credit available to the Americans who need it most.

With a week left in its 2023 fiscal year, the Small Business Administration has already approved 12% more 7(a) loans than last year. Larger banks were among the biggest gainers as a result, according to the agency's latest data.