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50 years ago, it was legal to deny a woman credit without a male co-signer

Oct 21, 2024
The 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal to discriminate against applicants based on sex or marital status.
While laws have addressed the most overt biases, other forms of discrimination exist, like predatory lending and algorithms that amplify human biases, says Jennifer Chien of Consumer Reports.
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Why many banks are preparing for an uptick of bad loans

Oct 14, 2024
Throughout the last year, a lot of big banks have been stocking away more cash to cover bad loans. But even though banks are concerned about the broader economy, they're still trying to make loans where they can.
Many banks are nervous about commercial real estate loans, with vacancies stubbornly up. They're also keeping an eye on rising credit card debt.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Buying Discover would make Capital One bigger — and give it a payments network

Feb 20, 2024
There are only four such networks for credit cards, and building a new one can take decades.
Buying a payments network is a lot easier than starting one, says Andrew Davidson with Comperemedia.
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Why does a bank sell your mortgage?

Feb 6, 2024
Most are sold into the secondary market, which increases liquidity and makes it easier to get a mortgage at a lower interest rate.
Today, upward of 70% of mortgages are sold into the secondary market, typically bundled with others to create a mortgage-back security. It can be annoying, though, when your servicer changes.
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Higher interest rates and troubled commercial real estate are piling pressure on regional banks

Jan 22, 2024
We'll be getting a sense of how they're doing as they report quarterly results this week.
A view inside a Silicon Valley Bank location in March 2023. Since the collapse of SVB, a lot of small and mid-sized banks have tried to stop depositors from pulling out their money by raising interest rates on deposits.
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The business lending environment is tough right now — especially for people of color

Jan 15, 2024
The Biden administration has tried to make it easier for business owners to get loans. But high interest rates are a challenge.
Nicole Davis, who owns an accounting firm, said her Black business clients typically have a harder time qualifying for loans, often because they lack generational wealth.
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Could commercial real estate still tank regional banks?

Dec 21, 2023
A new study says that 300 regional banks are at risk of collapse because of the high number of vacancies in office buildings.
The delinquency rate on office loans tripled this year, says Trepp's Stephen Buschbom.
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With higher interest rates, small businesses and lenders proceed with caution

Oct 10, 2023
Only a quarter of small businesses say they're getting the credit they need, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
Some banks have been more cautious about lending to certain sectors of the economy that aren’t doing so well. That includes commercial real estate.
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It's getting harder to obtain loans. That's exactly what the Fed wants.

Jul 18, 2023
Fewer loans means less consumer spending, and less consumer spending means lower inflation.
"Most people's financial wiggle room is pretty small, even before they have to start repaying their student loan," said Matt Schulz at LendingTree.
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Banking crisis may be fueling the rise of so-called "shadow banks"

May 15, 2023
Hedge funds and private equity loans might lend like banks, but they're not regulated like them.
Shadow banks are financial institutions that provide loans but don't take deposits.
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