Merchant recognition solution based on ML.
Lending Platform Transformation: Slashing Loan Processing Time by 85% with an Emerline-Developed Open Banking Powered Platform
Emerline engineered a new, data-driven foundation for our business that increased our loan approval accuracy and transformed our customer journey from weeks of paperwork into minutes of seamless interaction.
Background
For over two decades, our client established itself as a trusted mid-market financial institution, building success on customer relationships and a commitment to responsible lending. However, this traditional model was struggling to keep pace in a digital-first world. The company’s loan origination process was hampered by manual data entry, paper-based documentation, and fragmented legacy systems. This operational friction drove up costs, introduced a significant risk of human error, and created a poor customer experience.
Externally, nimble fintech startups were setting new market expectations with loan decisions in hours, not weeks. Faced with high applicant abandonment rates and the risk of losing market share, the lender’s leadership knew a fundamental transformation was necessary. They needed a strategic partner to shift from a manual, paper-based model to a data-driven, automated one. Emerline was selected for our deep expertise in the finance sector and our track record of guiding established businesses through comprehensive digital transformations.
Challenge
During the initial discovery phase, our joint team identified several critical challenges stifling the client's growth and creating operational friction:
Manual data verification and high error rates
The underwriting process relied on the manual review of physical documents, a slow process susceptible to human error. This created a significant bottleneck, increased compliance risks, and could lead to flawed credit decisions.
Fragmented underwriting and inconsistent decisions
Applicant data was scattered across multiple, non-integrated legacy systems. Loan officers spent excessive time manually consolidating information, leading to processing delays and inconsistent risk assessments.
Poor borrower experience and high abandonment
The lengthy, paper-heavy application process was intimidating and lacked transparency. This frustration resulted in a high rate of applicant abandonment, representing a massive loss of potential revenue.
Limited market reach
A rigid reliance on traditional credit bureau scores excluded a large population of creditworthy individuals with limited credit histories, such as recent graduates or self-employed entrepreneurs. The company lacked the tools to assess an applicant's financial health based on real-time data.
Methodology & Approach
Emerline’s engagement was founded on a strategic, collaborative partnership using an Agile development methodology. This approach ensured the final product was perfectly aligned with the real-world needs of the lender's business users and customers. The entire project was anchored by a comprehensive Discovery Phase, a critical service Emerline provides to define project goals and ensure success from the outset. During this phase, Emerline's business analysts and UI/UX design experts conducted a series of intensive workshops with loan officers, underwriters, and compliance teams. These sessions allowed us to map out existing workflows, identify specific pain points, and gain a profound understanding of the nuances of their lending operations. This user-centric research formed the bedrock of our entire development strategy.
Based on the insights gathered, we defined a clear, feature-driven approach to building the new digital lending platform.
Solution
The final solution delivered by Emerline is a comprehensive, end-to-end digital lending platform that automates the entire loan origination lifecycle - from initial application and data collection to underwriting, decisioning, and disbursement. The engine driving this transformation is a deep and secure integration with Plaid's Open Banking platform, which serves as the secure data backbone for the entire system.
Open banking-powered data verification
The cornerstone of the new platform is its seamless integration with the Plaid API, which eradicates the need for manual document submission. Applicants can securely connect their bank accounts in seconds, granting the lender permissioned access to source-of-truth financial data. This single step replaces the cumbersome process of uploading months of bank statements, dramatically improving the user experience. The platform instantly verifies identity, assets, and income by connecting directly to payroll platforms or analyzing cash flow patterns from bank data, providing a reliable assessment of an applicant's ability to repay. This process is fortified against fraud and streamlines compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations.
Intelligent automation and decisioning engine
Leveraging the rich, real-time data, Emerline’s engineers developed a sophisticated back-end decisioning engine. This system automates core lending processes, increasing speed, accuracy, and consistency. By analyzing transaction data, the engine performs advanced cash flow underwriting, providing a holistic assessment of a borrower's true financial health. This enables the lender to confidently serve "thin-file" individuals previously rejected by traditional models. The platform also automates the setup of ACH transfers for loan disbursement and repayments, and proactively checks account balances before initiating payments to reduce failures and fees.
Technology Stack
Project Results
The implementation of the Emerline-developed platform has been transformational. The project moved beyond simple process optimization to fundamentally reshape the company's business model, empowering it to operate with the speed and precision of a modern fintech leader.
- 85% reduction in loan processing time: by automating data collection and verification, the platform slashed the average time from application to decision from 25 days to under 48 hours. This allows our client to compete directly with the fastest online lenders.
- 40% increase in application completion rate: the new five-minute digital application and transparent borrower dashboard directly addressed applicant frustration. As a result, the lender saw a 40% increase in completed applications, capturing significant revenue previously lost to poor user experience.
- 25% expansion into underserved markets: the platform's ability to use cash flow underwriting opened up an entirely new market segment. By accurately assessing "thin-file" applicants, the lender increased its volume of approved loans from these demographics by 25%, fulfilling its mission to broaden access to credit.
- 60% decrease in underwriting operational costs: the automation of routine tasks freed underwriters from low-value clerical work. This allowed the lender to reallocate 60% of its underwriting resources to higher-value activities like analyzing complex cases and improving risk models, reducing costs while increasing the quality of the loan portfolio.
Conclusion
The strategic partnership between our client and Emerline demonstrates how targeted technology can redefine a business. By harnessing Emerline's development expertise and the power of Open Banking, the lender solved its most pressing operational challenges and built a scalable foundation for future innovation. They have successfully transitioned from a traditional institution into a dynamic, data-driven organization poised to lead in the new era of digital lending.
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