Small business lending

Member Business Lending is a Utah-based provider of commercial, small business lending origination for credit unions.

The Oakland company has hired Colleen Atkinson, a former manager at HSBC, to oversee its new professional banking business line.

It usually costs small businesses a lot of time and money to calculate their own value. TD Bank is offering them a free digital tool that performs the task quickly.

Sponsoring so-called pitch competitions helps lenders gain Community Reinvestment Act credit and gather deposits.

A number of banks are upgrading technology and hiring more lenders to better reach small-business owners, who are becoming more confident in their outlooks.

Denver-based P2Binvestor plans to use the new funds to expand its bank partnership program.

The explosion in construction of self-storage facilities is being backed by banks hungry for commercial loans. Some market participants fear a glut is in the making and the credits could sour.

Approval rates for small-business loan applications were up at small and larger financial institutions as the labor market continued to improve.

A bill moving through the California Legislature seeks to tame the largely unregulated world of online small-business lending. If passed, it would be the first of its kind nationally, but so far it has failed to satisfy either the industry or its critics.

Live Oak is the latest bank to jump into this niche lending area. But some warn they are beginning to see cracks in credit quality.