Customer Success Story

Revamping the Lending Process for Enhanced Efficiency and Greater Cross-Sell Opportunities

How Farmers State Bank Streamlines Loan Decisioning While Reducing Cost


Headquarters: LaGrange, IN
Branch locations: 11
Customers: 45,000
Managed Assets: $1.2 Billion


The Challenge

Upgrading an Expensive, Manual, Time Consuming Lending Process

Farmers State Bank (FSB) is a community-centric financial institution committed to providing top-notch personal and business banking solutions. They offer personal banking, investments, card services, consumer loans, and mortgages, as well as a wide range of business products. The bank serves members in northeast Indiana and southwest Michigan. FBS’s original consumer lending process was expensive and overly reliant on manual tasks. FSB employees spent significant time dealing with spreadsheets and downloading data. The bank also needed a faster, more efficient decision model to enable customers to apply for a loan quickly.

Best of all, we have been able to continue to grow our portfolio without adding additional employees. All thanks to MeridianLink Consumer’s efficiencies, which has helped us cut costs.

TJ Kempf

Executive VP, Chief Lending Officer, Farmers State Bank

Why Farmers State Bank Selected MeridianLink Consumer

Fast implementation and immediate efficiencies allowed FSB to go live in 120 days while fine-tuning the system as it became an integral part of their loan approval and closing processes.

Built-in cross-sell capabilities empowered FSB to deepen customer relationships by providing additional financing options to prospective borrowers based on underwriting intelligence.

Advanced automation and customization options enabled FSB to reduce manual tasks and streamline workflows, leading to a drastic reduction in cost and inefficiencies.


The Results

Easy-to-Use, Automated System That Simplifies Lending and Improved Customer Relationship

FSB leveraged MeridianLink Consumer to consolidate cross-channel applications and streamline staff processes. The lightning-fast implementation—even as FSB’s very first decision model—allowed the bank to be up and running within 120 days. Dynamic workflows and automated underwriting and pricing drastically reduced the number of tools FSB needed to complete the lending process.

MeridianLink Consumer’s cross-sell feature allowed FSB to get smarter about providing additional financing options to prospective borrowers based on underwriting metrics. The system enables FSB to embrace its customer-centric focus and easily present new opportunities to clients. The ability to seamlessly cross-sell has fostered stronger relationships with the customer base.

The updated system has enhanced the experience for staff and FSB customers alike by directly sourcing data from MeridianLink Consumer and seamlessly integrating it into the automated decisioning process. This streamlined workflow has significantly reduced unnecessary tasks for staff and eliminates friction from the overall customer experience.

Farmers State Bank Achieved Impressive Results with MeridianLink Consumer