Small business

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is exploring ways to use $40 million it received as part of a private-label securities settlement to support small-business development and job creation to help future homebuyers.

Ray Grace, North Carolina's banking commissioner, believes federal bank regulators should embrace charters for banks dedicated to innovation. Doing so, he said, would help the banking industry secure its spot as a "laboratory for change."

Traditional financial institutions are often seen as the outdated rival to new disruptors, but the idea that a bank can't be a marketplace lender, and vice versa, is a myth.

A significant gap remains between the credit scores of women-owned companies and those owned by men, according to a Biz2Credit.com survey.

A new survey from seven regional Federal Reserve banks found that many small businesses are going online to access credit. But even when they are approved, applicants often end up dissatisfied because the loans carry high interest rates or have unfavorable repayment terms.

More than 200 small banks across the country will be able to offer online loans to their small-business customers as part of a new partnership announced Tuesday.

There are good, bad and ugly stories about how marijuana entrepreneurs deal with taxes and other financial management issues while having little access to banking services.

Delinquencies are rising among the sector's less creditworthy borrowers, which is contributing to smaller returns for investors. This sets up the first major test for an industry that blossomed during a period of unusually low defaults.

Carolina Alliance Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Shares in the online small-business lender plunged Tuesday after the firm's 2016 revenue guidance fell short of expectations. New details about the firm's plans to provide its technology to big banks did nothing to stanch the bleeding.