McClatchy Washington Bureau

With the White House pressuring bankers to make more loans, Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. today pledged to increase lending to small- and medium-sized businesses by at least $5 billion next year.

Chief executive Ken Lewis made the promise to President Obama at a White House meeting of top U.S. bankers.

The nation's biggest bank said it has extended more than $12 billion in credit to small businesses through the first three quarters of this year. It said it also has helped 49,000 small business customers with loan modifications and originated more than $215 billion in commercial loans to medium-sized companies in the same period.

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