The Hidden Cost of Manual Loan Document Preparation
The Hidden Cost of Manual Loan Document Preparation When lending organizations talk about operational inefficiency, the conversation almost always goes to the same three places. Underwriting workflows. Borrower communications. Payment processing. Those are real...
Why Lenders Should Slow Down on AI Adoption
Why Lenders Should Slow Down on AI AdoptionI was talking recently with the head of a specialty lending operation, a sophisticated team that has been in growth mode and expanding into new markets. I asked him how AI was showing up inside his organization. His answer...
Why CDFI Growth Now Means Mergers Not Just More Loans
Why CDFI Growth Now Means Mergers, Not Just More Loans For most of the history of community development finance, growth has meant one thing: make more loans. Raise more capital, hire more loan officers, open another office, deepen relationships in another underserved...
Why the Sales to Implementation Handoff Makes or Breaks Lenders
Why the Sales-to-Implementation Handoff Makes or Breaks Lenders When lending organizations evaluate new technology, they spend most of their time evaluating the things that show up on a scorecard. Features. Workflows. Integrations. Pricing. Implementation timelines....
Why Growing CDFIs Are Outgrowing Legacy Loan Servicing Systems
Why Growing CDFIs Are Outgrowing Legacy Loan Servicing Systems I have been spending a lot of time lately with CDFIs and community lenders that are in growth mode. New locations, new loan products, sometimes an acquisition on the horizon. And in almost every one of...
Why Lending Ops Leaders Want Configurable Systems Not Vendors
Why Lending Ops Leaders Want Configurable Systems, Not VendorsA client told me something this morning that stuck with me, and I think it captures one of the most underrated qualities a lending platform can have. He is not live yet. He is still in implementation. But...
The Real Cost of Domain Gaps in Lending Implementations
The Real Cost of Domain Gaps in Lending Implementations I had a conversation with a client this morning that I have not been able to stop thinking about. We were in the middle of discussing a technology implementation, and he asked me a question that was not really...
Why Borrowers Abandon Loan Applications Before Underwriting
Why Borrowers Abandon Loan Applications Before Underwriting I was talking with a client this morning, a community lender, a Community Development Financial Institution that does real work in underbanked communities and with small businesses that traditional banks will...
What Happens to Junior Lenders When AI Does Their Training Work
What Happens to Junior Lenders When AI Does Their Training Work Everyone wants to talk about whether AI should be making lending decisions. I understand why. It is the headline question, the one that gets people nervous in a boardroom and gets clicks in a trade...
Why Connected AI Agents Beat Isolated AI Tools in Lending
Why Connected AI Agents Beat Isolated AI Tools in Lending I have spent a lot of time lately in conversations with COOs and Heads of Lending about AI, and I keep noticing the same pattern. Almost every lender I talk to is thinking about AI the same way, and I think...
Why Clean Data Alone Can t Protect Lenders From Risk
Why Clean Data Alone Can't Protect Lenders From Risk I was on a podcast recently talking about technology in specialty lending, and the host said something that stuck with me. We were talking about data quality, which is the topic everyone in this industry wants to...
Why Loan Servicing Is Now a Strategic Asset Not Overhead
Why Loan Servicing Is Now a Strategic Asset, Not Overhead I have spent a lot of time over the past year sitting across the table from COOs and Heads of Lending at specialty finance companies, CDFIs, and commercial lenders of every size. The conversations vary, but...
Why Your Lending Systems Don t Talk to Each Other
Why Your Lending Systems Don't Talk to Each Other I attended a webinar recently hosted by a lending technology firm that framed something I have been observing for a long time in a way I thought was worth sharing. Their thesis was simple, but it stuck with me: most...
Why Community Lenders Are Hiring Enterprise Tech Leaders
Why Community Lenders Are Hiring Enterprise Tech Leaders I had a discovery call a few weeks ago that stuck with me, and I have been thinking about it ever since. The organization was a Community Development Financial Institution, one of those mission-driven lenders...
Why Community Lenders Are Hiring Enterprise Tech Leaders
Why Community Lenders Are Hiring Enterprise Tech Leaders I had a discovery call a few weeks ago that stuck with me, and I have been thinking about it ever since. The organization was a Community Development Financial Institution, one of those mission-driven lenders...
What Lenders Actually Look for When Switching Software
What Lenders Actually Look for When Switching Software I spend an immense amount of time talking directly to commercial lenders, alternative finance companies, and specialty credit managers who are either actively evaluating new software, recovering from a failed...
What Lenders Actually Look for When Switching Software
What Lenders Actually Look for When Switching Software I spend an immense amount of time talking directly to commercial lenders, alternative finance companies, and specialty credit managers who are either actively evaluating new software, recovering from a failed...
What Lenders Actually Look for When Switching Software
What Lenders Actually Look for When Switching Software I spend a lot of time talking to lenders who are either in the middle of a software evaluation, just coming out of a failed implementation, or quietly frustrated with a system they know they have outgrown. What I...