Special Program Root Tag

The digital-only bank has adopted machine learning to process loans faster, more accurately and with better fraud detection than in the past.

As government debt swells, the outer limits of what the U.S. can safely borrow are becoming less and less clear.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.

Shared national credit balances rose 5% last year, and the percentage of at-risk loans nearly doubled. Regulators point out that banks have stashed away extra capital, but a lot will depend on the speed of the economic recovery and the performance of nonbank loans.

The Federal Reserve warned of significant risks of business bankruptcies and steep drops in commercial real estate prices in a report published on Friday.

Janet Yellen was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the country's 78th Treasury secretary and the first woman to hold the job, putting her in charge of overseeing an economy that continues to be hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic.

The company, poised to complete its purchase of Radius Bank, will enjoy new cross-selling opportunities, gain additional sources of fee income and capital as well as benefit from greater regulatory clarity, CEO Scott Sanborn says.

Despite mortgage rates expected to rise modestly in 2021, a bolstered Biden administration stimulus package and COVID-19 vaccination efforts bring promise for economic recovery.

Mortgage rates, whose movements until now had not reflected gains in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, rose 14 basis points this week, according to Freddie Mac.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.