Lending

For consumers, getting a mortgage can be a daunting task. Securing a home loan can take weeks (or months) from application to closing, in large part because the process often still requires offline and manual tasks. That’s not an ideal scenario for consumers who want to get in their new home, or for lenders trying […]

For most regional and community banks, the old-fashioned business of making loans remains their most important source of revenue. And for most of these banks, small businesses are a big part of their customer base. Yet they struggle to lend to small businesses profitably. You’ve probably heard the statistics before: Small businesses represent about half […]

For banks that finance construction projects, managing their loan portfolio—and particularly the draw disbursement process—can be an especially burdensome undertaking. Most construction projects financed by a bank contain a draw schedule, which is a timeline of intervals for which funds will be disbursed to borrowers and contractors for use. The goal for banks is to […]

Small businesses are an important segment for banks and credit unions with aggressive growth goals. In the United States, small businesses make up 99.7 percent of employer firms, according to the SBA FAQ Sheet. The top concern for these firms is managing their cash flow needs, which creates a great lending opportunity for banks and […]

One of the most underserved areas in financial technology is construction lending, which exposes banks and non-bank lenders to unnecessary risk, costs shareholders money and negatively impacts the client experience for borrowers. For an asset class that is finally gaining steam after punishing many lenders during the Great Recession, this is an area that can’t […]

As noted throughout our 2017 Acquire or Be Acquired Conference, partnerships between a bank and a tech company can take on many forms — largely based on an institution’s available capital, risk appetite and lending goals. With fintech solutions gaining momentum, many advisors at this year’s event encouraged banks to look at viable alternatives to […]

One of the many concerns surrounding fintech lenders is that they are not as tightly regulated as traditional banks and are not bound as firmly by the provisions of the Fair Lending Act. The Federal Trade Commission has expressed concerns about many of the lending practices of fintech companies, saying in a recent statement that […]

To set the stage for a successful technology implementation, it takes more than just training your staff or setting up a platform. You also need to understand your firm’s strategy, culture and people—and know how the new technology will enhance all three. Increased competition, shifting customer expectations and more diligent enforcement of expanding regulation are […]

With reports touting the health of the economy and the officials at the Federal Reserve talking about raising interest rates again, the lending environment must be good for small business owners, right? Wrong. According to Babson’s 2016 State of Small Business in America report, obtaining capital is a challenge that frustrated SMB owners continue to […]

An increasing number of banks are conceding that innovations introduced by online lenders are here to stay, particularly the seamless, fully digital customer experience. Also, online upstarts have grown to understand that unseating the incumbents may well be heavy-going, not the least because of the difficulties of profitably acquiring borrowers. The result is that both […]