5 Ways Technology Is Revolutionizing the Loan Application Process

Small business owners are constantly facing big decisions, such as how to combat rising costs, when to expand into new markets, and how many people to hire for busy seasons. Funding is a key factor in how business owners make decisions, but when the lending process is too complicated or time-consuming, some may turn away from the capital that would help their business thrive.

Banks and lenders want to help, but when teams have more work to do than there is time in the week, operations slow down, mistakes are made, and borrowers don’t get adequate support. The right tools make all the difference for both lenders and borrowers. With technology that truly improves the loan origination process, banks can automate the most tedious parts of the experience, leading to faster approvals, fewer errors, and less paperwork to comb through. Below, we highlight five top ways today’s lending technology improves the loan process, helping provide better outcomes for lenders and their clients.  

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1. Automating Tasks That Bog Down Processing

When workflows are inefficient, lending teams can end up spending much of their day searching through documents, doing repetitive data entry, and trying to stay on top of their inbox. These tasks keep every member of your lending team bogged down in time-consuming work that doesn’t do much to move the needle on loan closure.  

Sales professionals, underwriters, and closers have more critical work to do, and they can focus where it counts when they can use technology resources to automate routine tasks.  

Today’s lending software, particularly solutions powered with AI, can automate document organization, email responses, file scanning, workbook data population, and more. This allows your team to do more analytical work that moves loan applications through the process faster and with less human error.  

Automation is one way LenderAI from iBusiness Funding improves lenders’ workflow. It’s an end-to-end lending platform powered by Lendsey, the world’s first multi-agent, agentic AI for lenders. Lendsey isn’t just a chatbot—she offers a full team of smart AI agents to help lenders and borrowers stay on top of applications and keep track of next steps. Lendsey answers questions, reads and organizes documents, reduces manual data entry, auto-fills financial workbooks, drafts email replies, checks documents for accuracy and conformity, monitors outstanding to-dos, and more, freeing lenders up to do more analytical work rather than routine tasks that could be automated.  

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2. Providing Support Without Additional Overhead

For banks with small teams, or those simply overwhelmed by loan volume, multi-agentic AI systems like Lendsey operate 24/7 as an extra set of eyes and hands to help ensure each loan is quickly and accurately moved through the review and approval process. Lending platforms with AI agents built in, like LenderAI, offer a virtual team to help you make smarter decisions and work more efficiently.  

Some of today’s loan origination solutions include AI agents that can handle tasks such as:

• Reviewing and summarizing documents

• Notifying you that an applicant has uploaded the wrong file

• Keeping a list of what a borrower needs to upload

• Auto-filling your financial workbook by reading bank statements and tax documents

• Drafting emails to clients and advising on next steps

Without hiring additional team members, one solution allows you to get more done with greater forethought in less time.  

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3. Increasing Application Conversion Rate

Two main reasons loan applicants abandon the process are inconvenience and a feeling that the amount of work required to apply is overwhelming. Loan software that includes a digital application like LenderAI gives them the option to work on their application anywhere at any time, offering more convenience and a more comfortable experience.  

A branded, digital loan application supported by smart AI agents can help borrowers complete their application smoothly on their own. Virtual AI assistants can guide applicants through the process, advising on which information to submit, which files are incorrect, and what’s left to upload. Lendsey's helpful AI agents give borrowers a 24/7 concierge that can quickly answer questions to keep the application moving and increase completion rates.  

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4. Accelerating Time to Decision

AI agents can wear many hats. As a result, they empower lending teams to work faster and smarter, with greater accuracy and organization. This helps every member of your team optimize their workflow and move more loans through the approval process. With single-platform, multi-agentic AI systems facilitating the process, the lender and applicant are automatically alerted when actions are required, keeping the process consistently in motion. Faster answers and funding decisions mean borrowers are more satisfied, and lenders can close more loans per month and scale their portfolios at greater speed without sacrificing thoroughness.

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5. Navigating Compliance

Another common pain point for banks and lenders is adapting to changing SBA SOPs and ensuring regulatory compliance. Too often, legacy systems can’t keep up with rapidly changing regulatory environments. Leading-edge lending technology solutions are updated in real time to reflect new compliance requirements. End-to-end platforms help lending teams take loans from sales through servicing in one secure solution, and AI enablement supports lenders in navigating the complexities of SBA SOPs and following regulatory guidelines.  

LenderAI and Lendsey don’t just help support compliance but also security. Our platform is SOC 2 Type 2 tested and compliant, as well as Banking AI Controls Standard (BAICS) compliant, ensuring your data is protected with industry-leading safeguards. Our AI models are trained on our historical lending data, so we never have to use yours.

Bank and lenders play an important role in helping small businesses thrive, and with the right tools to keep your team working efficiently, you can help clients get answers and funding quicker.  

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Contact us to learn more about LenderAI and Lendsey and see a demo of how we can optimize the way your lending team works.  

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