The materials available in this article are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your own advisors with questions regarding the consumer lending software content herein. The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the individual authors and may not reflect the opinions of MeridianLink, Inc.
Better borrower experiences are built on refined lending operations.
When teams are bogged down by manual work, disconnected data, and processes that require too much effort to keep applications moving, everyone feels the drag. Decisions take longer. Staff have less time to focus on borrowers. And opportunities can slip away before they ever reach the finish line.
Efficiency changes the equation. When your team has the tools to automate routine work, access the right information, and make decisions with confidence, you create more capacity to serve borrowers—and more momentum to grow.
Our Get More Consumers to Yes, Faster eBook explores how three lenders removed the roadblocks unnecessarily slowing down approval timelines and limiting growth, and the role MeridianLink’s consumer lending software played in that process.
50% of bank and credit union CEOs rank efficiency among their top strategic priorities
The borrower experience starts long before a borrower sees an application. It starts with the processes, systems, and people working behind the scenes to move that application forward.
The more efficiently your team can work, the smoother the journey is for borrowers.
In the case of Peoples Bank, creating that kind of experience came down to three key priorities:
1. Speeding up service
Manual underwriting and inconsistent decision-making processes slowed service at the precise moment when speed mattered most. So, Peoples Bank decided it was time to automate.
After defining and implementing underwriting automation rules with MeridianLink® Consumer, they nearly doubled automated decisions from 30% to 57%. On top of saving the equivalent of five full-time employees, the automation ensured qualified borrowers received approvals sooner, keeping more opportunities moving toward funding and captured business.
2. Improving consistency and convenience
Alongside speed, Peoples Bank’s customers also expected flexibility, especially when it came to after-hours transactions accessible from people’s preferred channels.
To that end, the bank tapped MeridianLink’s consumer lending software to optimize their digital flow across every device and create the capacity for 24/7 loan processing through newly automated and data-backed underwriting. This cleared the way for qualified borrowers to get approved, and even close, entirely outside of business hours.
3. Freeing time for high-value work
Between manual underwriting and limited visibility into key borrower insights and application progress, Peoples Bank’s staff were feeling the strain, too.
Implementing time-saving automations empowered the bank’s lending team to focus their attention on applications in need of extra review and, importantly, relationship development.
Good borrower experiences start with the application, but they shouldn’t end there. And with access to enhanced reporting and real-time data, staff finally had the time and resources to nurture every relationship both during and long after the initial transaction was completed. Whether tracking application progress to keep borrowers moving or spotting new opportunities to engage sooner, that personalized service has given Peoples Bank an edge that disembodied, digital-only competitors simply can’t match.
Get More Consumers to Yes, Faster
Experience. Efficiency. Engagement. The lenders leading the way aren’t choosing between them. Learn more about Peoples Bank’s story and how two other community financial institutions are bringing all three together to transform the lending journey and accelerate the path from application to approval.
