Merchant

Commercial borrowers are leaning more often on alternative lenders that provide better speed and flexibility. At the same time, some banks are turning their backs on what has long been a bread-and-butter business.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he planned to move Tuesday to file a discharge petition to move Chopra’s nomination out of the Senate Banking Committee and onto the Senate floor.

Bilt Rewards, which offers a loyalty program and credit card that converts rent into reward points, raised $60 million from investors including Mastercard and Wells Fargo, giving the startup a $350 million valuation.

President Biden urged a group of chief executive officers to help improve cybersecurity across the nation’s critical infrastructure and economy, citing a lack of trained professionals to adequately protect the U.S.

The Cincinnati bank, which last month closed its purchase of the health care lender Provide, has raised its estimate for the unit’s 2021 loan volume.

The revenue that banks earn from these loyalty programs provides a substantial offset to potentially shrinking interchange fees.

Banks that embraced their role as a conduit for Paycheck Protection Program loans were likelier to take more risk elsewhere, according to new research by three accounting professors. “Anytime you have that amount of money flowing through the bank, it’s going to affect behavior,” one of the authors said.

The startup Digits has developed a search engine that combs the books of small companies to size up their finances. But to give clients a real-time snapshot, it seeks bank partners that will provide checking and credit card account information.

The creators hope CU Offers, which lists discounts at local and national businesses, will attract new members and strengthen ties with existing ones. But observers are skeptical that it will drive real growth or inspire frequent use.

The agency proposed reporting standards for any institution that originates 25 or more small-business loans a year. The measure would be especially burdensome for very small lenders and could limit credit access in underserved communities, critics say.