Automation helps to eliminate inconsistencies and streamline processes. It standardizes the execution of tasks in your organization. Automation can also help you draw correlations between different sets of data for insight into how you can improve your processes.
Automation helps lenders reduce processing costs, the likelihood of human error and improve the overall lending experience. Drawing correlations between credit scoring and recent credit inquiries for instance provides a holistic portrait of your customer’s financial health.
Automation can also help improve almost every step of the lending process. Here we take a look at the first step in the lending process, loan origination, and how automation can improve it.
Automation in lending
Automation is any system that minimizes human input on the accomplishment of tasks.
Automation in the lending process can:
- Capture and index data from documents efficiently using a set of rules
- Route documents accurately
- Improve the speed of lending processes through email reminders and notifications generated at key points of the journey.
- Synchronize data
- Develop analytics for future win/loss insights
Automation provides an open data flow at any stage of the loan process. It speeds up the process while at the same time providing you with more reliable indicators of risk and opportunity.
How does automation improve the loan origination process?
Improving the loan origination process looks like this:
- Process efficiency
- Informative communication
- Accurate risk assessment
- Faster, more efficient underwriting
- Faster, unbiased decision making
When you improve your loan origination process you improve customer satisfaction while increasing your pool of loans.
Make decisions faster
Manual copying, emailing, scanning, printing, and data entry bog down the approval process. These tasks are time-consuming and have a high potential for error. In fact, the typical loan origination package averages 400-500 pages and can take over a month to process. Delays in approvals can be costly.
Automation of these processes decreases the amount of time it takes to turn prospects into customers. In doing so you gain the potential to generate more loans in less time as well as save money.
Accuracy in effective communication
Certainly, you want to have a human agent available to assist each of your customers. But, automating parts of your customer communication during this crucial period in the lending lifecycle can reduce the margin for human error during the loan origination process.
The list of documents necessary to begin the loan origination process can be long. Automating email and SMS messaging helps to ensure there are no gaps in information conveyance. Templates ensure the gathering of these documents is as easy as possible. Including things like checklists help speed up this process.
Loan origination processes can also leverage predictive analytics and automation to evaluate the risk of lending. You can make informed decisions about whether or not to add new members or issue funds.
Predictive analytics have made their importance known across financial industries looking to assess credit worthiness. It leverages machine learning, big data, and statistical techniques to estimate the likelihood of behaviors and events.
Automation also streamlines the risk evaluation process. Analysis of input takes a significantly shorter amount of time than the same job done by loan officers.Β
Speed up the underwriting process
Underwriting loans involves a lot of data processing. Automated document digitization lets you process this data much more quickly and efficiently.
Automation can look at a lot of data at one time. More information can help underwriters understand whether or not someone is likely to default on loan repayment. This helps them make an informed decision about their application.
Unbiased loan approval decisions
The ultimate decision whether or not to proceed with disbursing the funds should be an unbiased decision.
Many lending agencies now face the backlash of racist and biased lending practices in the past. It is in your best interest, both socially and fundamentally, to do everything you can to ensure you are not engaging in biased lending practices.
Automation can assist. It works by making rule-based decisions, taking only the data entered into the account.
Whatβs more, automation takes all relevant information into consideration and gives it the appropriate weight in making your decision. Algorithms allow your automated system to process this data to make an informed lending decision.
A robust portrait of the customer
Automation can help identify and track more variables to build a more holistic and robust picture of your loan applicants. It helps you make informed decisions with more accuracy and speed.
Borrowers are looking for fast, seamless, and hassle-free loans that are accessible on demand and can be initiated over many digital channels. Lenders need to make accurate assessments to mitigate loss.Β Automation can help by making the loan origination process easier than ever. You can make decisions with confidence and give your customers great service.
