As footfall at retail outlets continues to fall and people choose to complete more of their purchases and transactions online, from the comfort of their homes, lenders need to respond accordingly. 

Thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the trend for moving online, gone are the days when customers would come into a branch to enquire about securing a loan. 

Now, customers will Google a lender, expect to be able to ask questions via email or Messenger and apply online. In a competitive marketplace, if your digital lending or credit union lending business isn’t able to meet these expectations, then your potential customers will go elsewhere for their loan instead.     

Learn how SME Finance and Leasing Solutions are transforming lending

Access our On-Demand Webinar and learn how SME Finance and Leasing Solutions DAC are transforming lending for SME's, including a very insightful Q&A with Declan, Darren and Brian covering customer service, digital transformation, Covid-19 and Open Banking.

• Declan Roche SME Finance & Leasing
• Darren Greenyer Anchor Computer Systems
• Brian D'Arcy Luna Connect

Learn about

• Growing a diversified loan book online 
• Delivering high levels of customer service through digital channels
• Transforming operations with real-time reporting and analytics
• Reducing costs with automation and end-to-end integration

Helping small businesses access finance quicker with automated loan-origination processes

Small businesses rely on finance options to purchase and upgrade the assets that are essential to their growth. Traditionally, applying for finance was a time-consuming and frustrating process for the customer, requiring extensive paperwork and a lengthy wait for a decision.

Luna Connect is revolutionising the loan-origination process, utilising automation technology to help traditional lenders compete online and to help small business owners access finance quickly and effectively.

Recently, we worked with Irish company SME Finance & Leasing to increase their market share by providing a convenient and easy-to-use online solution for their borrowers.

In this post I'll outline how to plan your Open Banking project, and ask is Open Banking ready, is your business ready, and most importantly are your customers ready. If you haven't read Part I of this series you can read it here Practical Guide to Open Banking and PSD2 Part I: Lending.

The OBIE in the UK publishes a monthly report on the Open Banking ecosystem, regulated entities and providers. This is a great source of information on adoption, and the Open Banking February Highlights provides stats on the number of successful API calls having risen from 280.5 million to 321.3 million (December 2019 to January 2020).

In this post, and the next 2 blog posts, I'll cover how Open Banking and PSD2 can be used practically, today. Lending is changing from face to face and phone interactions to self-service online digital experiences, and this is being accelerated globally to protect staff and customers from the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Data and APIs are the key ingredients in driving down costs and risk, increasing automation, and delighting borrowers with amazing customer experiences.

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way we bank. Fintech companies and start-ups are causing a revolution within the lending world, and as the ever-growing importance of data analysis for making informed business decisions increases, so does the demand for artificial intelligence and automation in modern business.

We are thrilled to be participating in Data Pitch, an open innovation programme that helps start-ups and SMEs innovate with data. On the Data Pitch Accelerator, Luna Connect applied machine learning models to automate lending for SMEs across the UK and Ireland, therefore providing quicker lending decisions.

Silicon Republic: Our Start-up of the Week is Luna Connect, a digital platform for lenders that makes it easier to provide loans online