Improved economy, loosening credit standards are driving increased lending.

Huntington National Bank, a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares, operates nearly 50 branches and has about 600 employees in the Indianapolis area.

Michael Lewis, 53, filed a complaint with the Indianapolis office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Aug. 13 and sued Huntington Oct. 15 in Marion Superior Court.

Local loans issued through the Small Business Administration's popular 7(a) guarantee program plunged by an astonishing 64 percent for three of the city's four largest banks during 2009, while overall lending in the program slipped 17 percent in the metro area.

Last week’s front-page story “Shuffling the deck” pointed out the significant gains midsize banks have made in the Indianapolis market over the last year. The one glaring exception was Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington National Bank, which had lost $56.3 million in local deposits as of June 30, according to the FDIC. A closer look explains why.

Locally based Broadbent Co., one of the city’s biggest retail developers, has sued two of its banks, charging they’re wrongly attempting to restrict its access to a $50 million credit line.

Bank mergers have proven lucrative for local sign companies over the years. A string of mergers in the late 1980s and early 1990s wiped out the city's three big national banks--American Fletcher, Merchants National and Indiana National. In the years since, the industry has continued to consolidate, spawning a flurry of additional name changes.