Banking

Growing CRE mortgage volumes raised the bar for the coming year despite lingering concerns, according to the CRE Finance Council.

The fintech specializes in lending to dentists, veterinarians and other solo providers looking to grow or establish their own practice.

Cannabis, though still illegal at the federal level, continues to inch into the financial mainstream. Small credit unions and lenders as large as Valley National and East West have moved beyond just taking deposits from marijuana companies.

A growing number of companies like Klarna, Sezzle and Circle let consumers split large purchases into smaller transactions paid over time. But they say they need to offer more than one product to set themselves apart and build customer loyalty.

Executives at Citizens Financial and Regions Financial said they plan to make policy changes that will reduce their reliance on the controversial but already dwindling charges.

Fears of widespread credit losses have largely subsided, but demand for new commercial real estate loans remains lackluster because many companies are sitting on so much cash they don’t need to borrow. Meanwhile, competition from private equity groups and other nonbank lenders is escalating.

Meanwhile, National MI has been increasing its new insurance written by slightly widening its credit standards.

The deal for the Salt Lake City-based home improvement lender, which Home Depot tried to acquire more than a decade ago, is part of a larger effort by Regions Financial to diversify its home lending business.

But March's overall late payment rate was 1.3 percentage points higher than one year ago, while the 90-day-plus rate was 2.3 percentage points higher.

The four-week high in forbearance exits also helped drive the considerable drop in plans, according to Black Knight.