Look for these 5 Key Features In Your Digital Lending Platform
Lending has been one of the oldest financial services that the world has ever known and it dates back to the 21th century where it finds its mention in Babylonian history. Fast forward to the 21st-century world where money has been close to digitized and so has lending.
Fintech has brought in a sea change in lending by introducing automation into the lending process. Not just automation, the seamless integration of the entire lending process end-to-end with minimum manual intervention has helped more individuals and businesses access lending like never before.
Traditional banks are now joining hands with Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in a co-lending set up to reach larger markets and unbanked population to whom they did not have access earlier. Be it banks, or fintech companies using digital lending platforms improve their lending processes.
In the current day, almost every lender is aware of the importance of having a lending software technology in place. However what’s not discussed in detail is, what goes into the tech or how to find the right lending partner for your lending business? In this article, we cover 5 features that your digital lending platform must-have.
Key features to look for in your digital lending software solution
Adding a digital lending platform to a lending company isn’t just about choosing a lending software solution and integrating it into your business. Many crucial factors need to be considered in this case, right from how streamlined a process does the platform offer, ease of configuration, regulation compliance[1], ease of API integrations to name a few.
When choosing a digital lending platform for your lending business considers the following 5 features:
1. Industry experience
Having technological prowess isn’t enough when you are looking for the right lending fintech partner. The right vendor needs to have good experience in the lending industry, whereby they are aware of the various nuances of the business, use cases to consider, regulations and compliances, things that could go wrong and the right fixes for them and a lot more that can only come from hands-on experience of working in this field. A good choice would be a tech partner singularly focused on the lending or fintech space and has a well-established lending software technology to offer.
What you should look for?
You can ascertain if the vendor is right for you or not by simply having a discovery call and seeing if they can understand your particular requirements and also are aware of the gaps that you might have been unaware of, that could be plugged by using a good digital solution.
2. Latest technology
Although a vendor with a good number of years to their tech portfolio is a must-have, this should not in any way mean that they are still using tech from yonder times. In fact, not only do you need a tech partner who is using the latest tech in their lending software solution but also one that can foresee future trends and enmesh new tech and enhancements to their platform earlier, giving you an edge in the lending market. An innovative tech partner adept in emerging tech could be a true asset.
What you should look for?
When choosing a lending solution provider for your business, ensure that they are experts in the latest software technologies and are comfortable with the following:
SaaS – The best form of software adoption and integration happens through the cloud or SaaS platforms. They are easy to implement, access, use, and update and are secure as well. Choose a SaaS-based lending platform that makes it easier for you and your lending team to implement. The learning curve on SaaS platforms are shorter, they work on a subscription model and are continuously and automatically updated for bug fixes. Apart from that increased flexibility, scalability and reduced cost of operations are other pros when it comes to SaaS lending solutions.
Analytics – Analytics are a must in your digital lending platform. Having access to detailed analytics gives you a chance to verify the efficiency and performance of your loan process and portfolio. A detailed analytics dashboard can give you insights into rule-based decisioning, ascertaining deal quality, ideal customer persona etc. among others.
3. Easy configuration
A lending platform does not work on the “one size fits all” model. Each lender has its lending history, process, clientele and market that they cater to. As such, their lending solution should mimic their current process as much as possible while automating it to the core. However, automation does not mean that there is no option for manual overrides. Always look for a lending platform vendor that offers both automated and manual underwriting. The new tech integration should not mean additional work for your lending team. The lending platform should essentially make things easier for your lending business.
What you should look for?
Ask the following questions;
- Can the platform be configured to user needs at an individual level?
- Can the lending team make changes to the configuration to suit their needs without impacting effectiveness?
- How easy is it to configure the platform?
4. Ecosystem Integrations
Lenders these days use a host of financial and consumer data providers to improve their decisioning insights. So, when choosing a lending solution for your business, do ensure that the lending platform allows thorough integration with the data sources you use already or plan to use in the future.
What you should look for?
To ensure you ask for the cost of integration and the time required to implement each, whether run-of-the-mill or custom integrations, if any beforehand,and if there are certain limitations on integrations that you should be aware of.
5. The overall time of implementation
Once you have an idea of which lending software technology to go ahead with, there is still a major pointer you need to check before deciding on the one. The time to implement the platform and integrate it into your lending business. Do ask the vendor how quickly can they implement the platform in your business. A quick implementation will help you stay ahead of your competitors, move your current business to the platform without further delay.
Aim for a dedicated point of contact (POC) on the vendor side backed by a superior technical team to ensure that any glitch you run into will be resolved in no time.
What you should look for?
Ask clear questions about the support team or POC you can expect from the vendor. Having a clear POC and SLAs help in ensuring expectations are met on both sides and the engagement is mutually beneficial. Also, inquire about any risks in implementation that you should be aware of. In case you need a backup of any sort and measures needed to ensure zero downtime in your lending process.
Overall, always ensure a smooth and easy transition to your new loan origination platform.
Conclusion
Integrating a lending software solution is going to spell major success for your business. But how successful and scalable it is will depend on how closely you followed through the 5 pointers mentioned above. In sum, your ideal fintech lending partner should have good experience in the lending industry and is thorough with its nuances, is innovative and capable of bringing about changes that are foreseeable in the future, are adept in modern-day tech, and enable easy configuration and implementation.
[1] http://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/five-best-practices-for-fintech-compliance
