Plain-English definitions of the terms banks, credit unions and commercial lenders use every day, from origination to portfolio management.
22 terms
Agentic AI in lending means AI systems that don’t just analyze data or answer questions, but can independently plan and carry out…
Read definitionAnnual Percentage Rate (APR) is the yearly cost of borrowing money, shown as a percentage of the loan amount. It includes the…
Read definitionAsset-based lending (ABL) is a type of business financing in which a lender provides credit secured by a company's assets, such as…
Read definitionA charge-off is an accounting action in which a lender recognizes that a loan or part of a loan is unlikely to…
Read definitionCollateral management is the process lenders use to accept, value, monitor, and release the assets that borrowers pledge to secure a loan.…
Read definitionCommercial lending is the process by which banks, financial institutions, and other authorized lenders provide loans and credit facilities to businesses for…
Read definitionCommercial real estate lending is the process of providing financing to businesses, property owners, and real estate investors to purchase, refinance, develop,…
Read definitionCrypto lending is a financial service in which people lend their cryptocurrency to borrowers in exchange for interest, or borrow cryptocurrency (or…
Read definitionDeFi lending (Decentralized Finance lending) is a way to lend or borrow cryptocurrency directly on a blockchain using smart contracts, self-executing computer…
Read definitionDigital lending is the use of digital technologies to manage and streamline loan-related activities, including applications, document collection, credit assessment, underwriting, approvals,…
Read definitionLoan origination is the process a borrower goes through to apply for and receive a new loan, from the initial application to…
Read definitionLoan servicing is the process of managing a loan after it has been approved and funded, including collecting payments, maintaining loan records,…
Read definitionThe Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a U.S. federal law that protects people in the military or uniformed services by limiting,…
Read definitionSME lending is the process of providing loans and other forms of financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them…
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It is a reference of the terms used across commercial lending, from loan origination and underwriting to servicing, collateral and portfolio management, each explained in plain English with examples.
It is written for people at banks, credit unions and specialty lenders, including loan officers, credit analysts, portfolio managers and operations teams, as well as anyone new to commercial lending.
The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) measures whether a borrower's income can cover its loan payments. Loan-to-value (LTV) compares the loan amount with the value of the collateral. Lenders use both, because one measures repayment capacity and the other measures the collateral cushion.
We add and update terms regularly as lending practices, regulations and technology change. Each term page shows the date it was last updated.
Yes. If there is a commercial lending term you would like us to explain, contact us and our team will consider it for the glossary.
Finanta brings origination, servicing and portfolio management together in one commercial lending platform.