Customer Success Story
Bangor Savings Bank Accelerates Loan Closings With Data to Improve Customer Experience
How Bangor Savings Bank Used Data and Technology To Transform Their Digital Lending Experience
Headquarters: Bangor, ME
Branch locations: 69
Managed assets: $7.3 billion
The Challenge
Tackling Inefficiencies in the Lending Process
Bangor Savings Bank (Bangor) wanted to reduce loan processing times and enhance the customer experience across online and in-branch applications. To accomplish this, they needed a streamlined, automated loan origination system with accurate decisioning logic, faster documentation workflows, and improved communication to support centralized underwriting.
The Solution
MeridianLink One
Bangor leveraged MeridianLink® One’s built-in analytics to identify processing delays and loan lifecycle bottlenecks. With those insights, the team strategically implemented automation—including instant approvals, task-based stipulation tracking, and real-time email notifications—to accelerate document collection, reduce manual touchpoints, and streamline workflows.
Why Bangor Savings Bank Selected MeridianLink One
Reduced application-to-decision time to just 1.43 hours — accelerating borrower response and pipeline movement.
Cut initial entry-to-booking time by 48 hours — significantly shortening the overall loan cycle.
Trimmed approval-to-booking time by 24 hours — enabling faster funding and improved borrower satisfaction.
The Results
Loan Processing Times Cut by Up to 48 Hours
Bangor leveraged MeridianLink One to boost loan application efficiency, slash processing times, and enhance the borrower experience. By analyzing processing data and collaborating with staff, they refined custom questions and optimized workflow logic. Key product parameters—credit score, loan amount, debt-to-income, and loan-to-value ratios—were adjusted to ensure accurate product matching.
These improvements enabled instant credit-based declines and automated approvals—with and without stipulations—cutting manual underwriting and helping underwriters focus on priority files. Faster communications and streamlined document collection further sped up the process.
As a result, time from application to first decision dropped significantly, approval-to-booking time fell by 24 hours, and overall processing time was reduced by nearly 48 hours. Average loan closings improved from 8 to 7 business days, with many completing in as little as 6.57 days. Considering 60% of funded loans are HELOCs—most with rescission periods—this faster turnaround marks a major operational win and a better experience for borrowers.
