Industry News
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.”
What the Velocity Capital Group Announcement Revealed
April 21, 2026
Velocity Capital Group has deployed over $1 billion to small businesses, newly unveiled financial stats show, shedding light on the firm’s performance as it enters a new phase of institutional-scale expansion. Across more than 10,000 transactions, VCG reports a 37.1% renewal rate and a sub-10% default rate.
The firm says it operates in all 50 states and is actively preparing to extend its model globally, with origination volumes projected to continue accelerating through 2030. As part of that, VCG has hired Michelle Melo as Director of Financial Operations & Capital Markets.
deBanked has been covering VCG’s expansion since 2018, starting with a profile that captured CEO Jay Avigdor’s rise from solopreneur to a large office on Long Island. At the time, Avigdor told deBanked: “We crawl before we walk before we run.” The company now appears to be in a full sprint as it looks globally.
This past February, Velocity Capital Group’s booth at deBanked CONNECT MIAMI included a surprise guest appearance from NBA All Star Bam Adebayo. Now with its recent big hire of Melo, Avigdor says, “VCG’s tech- and data-powered platform is scaling faster and more efficiently than nearly any peer in our category, and Michelle is here to institutionalize that advantage. She will drive pre-securitization discipline, standardized reporting, and the investor relationships we need to remove scaling friction and enable the next generation of growth. With Michelle on board, VCG is significantly closer to achieving our target of $1 billion in annual originations.”
National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers LLC Back in Roglieri’s Hands
February 5, 2026The United States Bankruptcy Court ordered the Roglieri Estate return its interest in the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers LLC back to Roglieri himself. The order was dated January 30, 2026. That interest includes all the assets and liabilities attached to the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers LLC. The Trustee’s reasoning was that management over the business had become burdensome to the Roglieri Estate.
Nearly two years ago, Roglieri declared in a bankruptcy filing that National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers LLC (often referred to as NACLB) was valued at $1 million.
Roglieri is currently imprisoned at the Rensselaer County Correctional Facility. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy this past November. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 11 and he is facing up to 20 years in prison.
Several Businesses that Belonged to Kris Roglieri Are Being Returned to Him for Free
January 30, 2026A United States Bankruptcy Court has ordered that the following businesses be released from the bankruptcy estate of Kris Roglieri and returned to Roglieri:
- National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers
- Commercial Capital Training Group
- Digital Marketing Training Group
- FUPME, LLC
- Shark Ventures LLC
The order is dated today, 1/30/26. The trustee’s reasoning for release is that the continued retention of these non-debtor interests are burdensome to the estate.
For full disclosure, the parent company of deBanked, Raharney Capital, LLC, had made a bid for two of the above entities and/or assets but withdrew it after the Trustee placed conditions on a sale that it would not agree to. Raharney Capital had also previously won the auction conducted for the Commercial Capital Training Group trademark but the sale was rescinded by the Trustee after claiming it had been auctioned off in error. The trademark (not the business) for National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers was apparently successfully sold off to a third party.
Roglieri had claimed in a March 22, 2024 bankruptcy declaration that the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers business was valued at $1 million and that the Commercial Capital Training Group business was valued at $500,000. His interest in those businesses are now being returned to him by the Trustee at no cost.
Roglieri is currently imprisoned at the Rensselaer County Correctional Facility. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy this past November. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 11 and he is facing up to 20 years in prison.
deBanked MIAMI on Track for Record Event
January 29, 2026deBanked CONNECT MIAMI 2026 taking place on February 12 at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach is currently on pace for deBanked’s largest event turnout in history. If you were on the fence about going, this is the event to go to if you work in or with the small business finance industry. Due to capacity, registration could shut off in advance of the event so be sure to have your tickets already. You can REGISTER HERE.
Becoming a Successful Broker
January 22, 2026ARE YOU READY FOR DEBANKED CONNECT MIAMI 2026?!
Check out the full agenda for February 12th at the Fontainebleau.
There will also be tech demos happening non-stop on the show floor. This event is one you won’t want to miss.
REGISTER BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
deBanked’s Top Stories of 2025
December 31, 2025With deBanked having closed out its 15th year (WHOA) of being online, it appears that merchant cash advance content still dominates in views. I know this because these were the top five most read stories of 2025:
#1 – Texas Passed an MCA ACH Prohibition
Without a perfected first position, Texas no longer allows commercial sales-based financing providers to automatically ACH debit a merchant’s bank account.
See: Texas Governor Signs Sales-Based Financing ACH Prohibition Into Law
#2 – Ban on Refinancing MCAs With SBAs
The world took note when the SBA stated that: “merchant cash advances and factoring agreements are not eligible for refinancing for Standard 7(a) loans, 7(a) Small loans, SBA Express loans, Export Express loans, and International Trade loans.”
See: SBA Places Restrictions on Use of Proceeds to Refinance Merchant Cash Advances and Factoring Agreements
#3 – The CFPB Proposed Removing MCAs From Section 1071
After years of preparing for a world in which MCAs would be subject to CFPB small business loan data collection rules, the agency proposed taking MCAs out.
See: CFPB Reverses Course: Now Proposes to Remove Merchant Cash Advances from Section 1071 Rule
#4 – Getting Backdoored? Try This Watermark
One of the biggest stories of 2025 was a proposed solution to the backdooring problem.
See: Getting Backdoored? Put Your Mark on the Docs
# 5- New California Law Goes into Effect on January 1, 2026
This story was posted at the very end of the year and yet managed to secure a place as the 5th most read story on deBanked in 2025. Is the industry ready for this new law???
See: Brokers and Funders – Are You Ready for Changes to California Law Effective January 1, 2026?
Indictment in the Small Business Finance Industry’s “Long Running Mysterious Fraud”
December 22, 2025
There has been a major break in the case of the industry’s Long Running Mysterious Fraud, an indictment. Less than a year after deBanked ran a story about a sophisticated scheme employed to steal millions from merchants, funders, and lenders through a network of stolen identities and cryptocurrency exchanges, a criminal complaint was quietly filed under seal on February 24, 2025 against an individual named Saul Shalev with addresses in Brooklyn and Israel. He is currently thirty-six years old. On August 20, 2025 that complaint progressed to a sealed indictment and on October 3, 2025 all the filings were finally made public.
Shalev may still be at large. He has dual American/Israeli passports. The original criminal complaint states that he traveled to Israel in February 2019 and had not returned to the United States since. IP addresses, email accounts, and other internet data were used by law enforcement in its investigation. The criminal complaint says that the scheme was still going on earlier this year and that more than 25 victims of the scheme have already been identified.
Shalev, who is innocent until proven guilty, is charged with Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Aiding and Abetting.
