Articles by deBanked Staff
RBFC Response to New CFPB Small Business Lending Rules
May 4, 2026Last week, the CFPB updated its final Section 1071 small business loan data collection rules to improve the usefulness of the data and to reduce the burden on covered parties. As part of that, merchant cash advances were finally excluded from the reporting requirements.
The Revenue Based Finance Coalition (RBFC) had advocated strongly for some of the changes that made it into the final version. In a public statement, the RBFC offered this feedback on the news:
“The final 1071 Rule is an important step in the right direction. It reflects an evenhanded approach to sales-based financing and recognizes that these products are fundamentally different from traditional credit. The rule properly focuses on financing arrangements that clearly fall within the scope of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. We’re pleased to see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acknowledge that whether a product constitutes credit depends on its specific structure.
The new framework provides important clarity for responsible providers and the small businesses that rely on flexible, performance-based financing. The Revenue Based Finance Coalition remains focused on advocating for fair, clear, and appropriate regulation of sales-based financing, with a top priority of ensuring that our members can continue to provide businesses with the capital they need to grow and thrive. This clarity will help support continued innovation and responsible access to capital for small businesses across the country.”
The Section 1071 label comes from its statutory section number in the 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Merchant Cash Advances Excluded From CFPB Small Business Loan Data Collection
May 1, 2026Merchant Cash Advances are now excluded from the CFPB’s small business loan data collection requirements. In the final rules filed by the agency on April 30th, the previous proposal to exclude MCAs from Section 1071 is now deemed approved and final.
“Since MCAs are not covered credit transactions under this final rule, no MCA providers will be required to report,” the docs say. The rationale is discussed across the 314 pages that comprise the final decision. However, the agency did leave open the possibility to reconsider the inclusion of MCAs years down the road.
But for now after more than a decade of debate and confusion over the matter, MCAs will not be considered a covered credit transaction for the purpose of Section 1071 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. You can read the final rules here.
The OppFi / BNC National Bank Deal and Bitty
April 29, 2026
OppFi, a publicly traded fintech lender, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire BNC National Bank in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $130 million. OppFi says that “the transaction unites two complementary, market-leading businesses, combining OppFi’s sophisticated online lending platform with BNC’s national bank charter and diversified banking infrastructure to create a stronger, more diversified financial services provider.”
As deBanked readers may be aware, OppFi also owns 35% of Bitty, a small business finance provider, a detail reiterated in the official bank acquisition announcement. Viewed through that lens, there appears to be a natural synergy between Bitty and BNC. BNC, for example, offers SBA loans, equipment financing, working capital loans, and more. Headquartered in Glendale, AZ, the announcement notes that BNC has “a particular strength in business financing and SBA lending.”
OppFi stands to benefit in several ways from the arrangement, including gaining “access to BNC’s stable, low-cost deposit base, which carries a cost of less than 2%.”
“BNC will continue normal operations as a community banking division within OppFi Bank, and will continue to be led by Dan Collins and the existing BNC management team,” the companies state. “Todd Schwartz will lead the combined company as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman. Michael Vekich will serve on the board of directors of OppFi Bank.”
Connecticut Commercial Financing Bill Moving Forward
April 29, 2026Connecticut’s commercial financing bill is moving its way through the state legislature. See it here.
Like a few other states it applies to merchant cash advances and it includes an APR requirement. While an earlier version of the bill exempted all sales-based financing transactions above $250,000 from the rules, it removed the threshold and made all transactions of all sizes subject to them. Both brokers and funders would be required to register with the Banking Department in order to offer commercial financing to Connecticut-based merchants.
Enova: $1.7B in Business Loans in Q1, New Record, Competition Hasn’t Changed
April 28, 2026“Our SMB business continued to deliver remarkable growth and stable credit as our leading brand presence, scale, and strong competitive position drove 42% year-over-year growth in originations to a record 1.7 billion dollars,” said Enova CEO Steve Cunningham during the Q1 earnings call. “Our SMB portfolio has grown 37% over the past year and remains intentionally well diversified across geographies and industries. In addition, the SMB net charge-off ratio remained in a tight range consistent with the past two years.”
The company indicated that economic signals look strong despite rising gas prices and that they expect the growth in SMB lending to continue.
When Kyle Joseph at Stephens asked Cunningham to size up the competitive environment they face in their sector, Cunningham said that they have the advantages.
Cunningham:
“The SMB market is large, and new business formation over the past five or six years has been really strong if you look at new business applications. Those companies that are a couple of years into their life and have shown staying ability become potential customers. So the market is growing, probably a little faster than the overall consumer market. Regarding our presence, brand, scale, and capabilities, our set of competitors has not really changed much over time, and we believe we have a lot of advantages. It is a great setup: a large, growing market and competitive advantages that allow us to be selective and generate growth that creates strong returns for us and our shareholders.”
How LendingClub (Happen Bank) Plans to Handle Customers Using AI Agents To Seek Out a Loan vs. Search Engines Like Google
April 28, 2026During LendingClub’s Q1 earnings call, stock analyst David Scharf asked LendingClub CEO Scott Sanborn how they’re approaching investments in AI-type search vs. traditional. Scharf used this example for context:
Scharf:
…specifically, I was just typing in how do I get a $10,000 personal loan and it just gives you the typical Google paid search listing of whoever shows up, then I said what’s the best $10,000 loan for me and it did the typical NERDWallet shows up. But going forward, when somebody types in, a year from now, what’s the best $15,000 personal loan for me into either Chat or Claude, can you talk us through either some of the risks or opportunities you see in terms of these AI engines making more qualitative assessments and not just traditional search assessments?
Sanborn’s excerpted response:
So it’s a great question. And while it is a buzzword, it is also — that does not take away from the fact that the changes underway are very real, and we are pursuing them, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, across really all departments and all aspects of the company.
[…]
So inertia is really the thing we’re trying to overcome. So if the agents evolve not only to replace Google search, but potentially to act on behalf of consumers, we think we’re a net beneficiary. But you’re right, it is as a percentage of web traffic right now, it is quite small. That said, it is high intent. And so as that percentage grows, we need to be there for it.
All of the protocols are not established exactly what the — as I’m sure you know, there are many, many, many firms that are engineering themselves around how to optimize for Google’s ever-changing algorithm that same thing will be true for agentic search, and we are going to be going after that the same way we will sort of core organic search and think we’re set to benefit. Right now, that means likely increasing the amount of content we produce to get out there. We’re already in the site. We’re obviously in the places you mentioned. We’re in NerdWallet Best Of, I think, on both sides of our balance sheet. So we’re already there.
But we need to be getting some of our content out on our own to help with that. So we’re pushing behind that throughout this year. That’s definitely on our plan.
LendingClub previously announced that it is rebranding to Happen Bank.
Bill Proposed to Amend CFPB’S Small Business Data Collection Rule
April 27, 2026
A simple bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to amend the CFPB’s small business data collection rules. The 888-page rulebook has been undergoing an internal reconfiguration by the CFPB itself but in this instance members of Congress are attempting to make minor changes through legislation.
These proposed changes are as follows:
• Amend the definition of small business to mean a business that does $1 million a year in revenue versus the $5 million defined in the last iteration of the rules.
• Amend covered financial institutions as ones that do at least 500 credit transactions a year versus the 100 transaction threshold defined in the last iteration of the rules.
This bill is called the “Small Lenders Exempt from New Data and Excessive Reporting Act.”
The small business lending data collection rules drafted by the CFPB have been the subject of controversy since 2010 when the law requiring the agency collect small business loan data was first passed. Sixteen years later there has still been much disagreement as to what was actually intended to be collected, from whom it is to be collected from, the manner in which this collection takes place, and what can be done with the data itself once it’s in the agency’s hands. The agency is likely to release an amended version of the rules sometime this year.
Book Your Room at Broker Fair Before The Deadline
April 24, 2026
The special discounted room rate for Broker Fair 2026 ends soon. If you’re coming from outside of New York City, we’ve got a special room rate at INK 48. It’s merely a hop, skip, and a jump from the event’s official venue at The Glasshouse.
PLUS, Broker Fair’s pre-show party will be taking place on the rooftop of INK 48 at Hudson Vu.
