Small business

Bank of the West in San Francisco has hired three development officers for Small Business Administration loans.

FirstMerit in Akron, Ohio, has reached an agreement with Paychex to provide payroll-processing services.

Marketplace lenders and other alternative finance companiesshould be perceived not as a threat, but rather as a group of pioneers opening up opportunities for those banks that elect to buy, build or partner in this market.

The global loan platforms present an extreme example of the ongoing clash between the fast-moving financial technology sphere and the staid world of financial regulation.

As the Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) loan program breaks records, its other loan program stagnates. Advocates for so-called 504 loans hope a drive to permit CRE refinancing will inject new life.

A federal judge has overturned a New York City law that would have required banks to make new disclosures regarding their investments in local communities.

Lending Club and Funding Circle are among the firms pledging to adhere to a range of self-imposed standards in small-business lending.

The New York Bankers Association is challenging the legality of a local law that is designed to cajole banks into making larger investments in poorer communities. The outcome could be an important precedent in relation to similar laws in other cities.

BB&T will dismiss most of a 21-person small business lending group who had been employed by Susquehanna Bancshares.

Heavier second-quarter marketing expenses at OnDeck Capital highlight a concern throughout the marketplace lending industry: the high cost of customer acquisition as competition from banks and nonbank startups heats up.