Working with a Fintech at the top of the industry and on the bleeding edge is great, but only if your organization is the right fit and ready for it. Outlining whether you’re looking for a system overhaul or ready for your partner to suggest systemic improvements, or somewhere in between is a great place to start. The right lending software partner for any organization should be able to stand up a minimum viable prototype quickly in order to answer any unanswered questions.
Searching for a Lending Software Partner: Search for the Quick Wins
Any change is hard. And when you’re talking about change paired with finance, it seems to get even more challenging. As a lender, adapting or even enhancing your lending process can be as hard as it gets, as that specific process is a primary business driver. And when you embark on a lending process overhaul, the first question you may have is, “How do we begin to take steps forward without wreaking havoc business-wide?” Our answer is the same you may have heard at the dinner table as a kid:
“Take small bites and see if we like it.”
New technology changes don’t have to be complete rip-and-replace projects. The system choices you have made over time were likely good investments. This is why we have built the FNI suite of lending products and services with the philosophy of large improvements through a series of small steps. With a process orchestration system, new channels or decision processes can be added while continuing to leverage legacy technology and processes. This creates gradual modernization without negative impact to lenders and borrowers.
Connecting flexible workflows and the DecisionCore™ decision engine to the key systems in an existing lending environment allows for an enhanced platform to operate as a central nervous system across marketing, websites, loan origination, and other core applications. While more enhancements are taking place through this effort, simply connecting existing systems through a central, intelligent platform can be the difference between cut-rate and cutting-edge.
Uncovering the How and Why in a System Change
The team at FNI is always looking for ways to enhance the lending capabilities through sustainable, flexible, and adaptive platform development. With this approach, the “how” of a change is covered, but what about the “why?” While the reason for a platform adjustment, enhancement, or overhaul varies widely across organizations, we like to start with these simple guiding questions:
- Are you being told no more often than being told yes by your teams supporting the legacy system?
- Are the changes you request taking more than two weeks to implement (including testing)?
- Is a large cost associated with change requests?
Next generation loan orchestration and decisioning (like what we bring to our customers) is designed with flexibility and sustainability at the center. While requirements over a certain horizon can be unpredictable, partnering with companies that create lending environments that allow for changes without new development, and easy data sharing through APIs sure does make sense when you know that you’re not going to know what’s coming next.
A powerful orchestration system allows for you to “choose your own adventure” until it feels just right, keeping as much of the legacy platform as needed, but with the advantage and flexibility of a brand new system.
Lending Partners that Build Working Lending Prototypes, First
The days of buying a new platform sight-unseen should be gone with that singing big mouth bass from holiday’s past. Your new system investment should be tried before purchased to ensure you are getting exactly what you need for success. Don’t you agree? And, if a potential lending software partner cannot support a trial, then how do you know the system is the right one for you, your processes, and your unique challenges?
A modern lending platform with an experienced vendor should be an exercise in configuration, not customization. In many cases, FNI lending customers are able to interpret how an actual platform will fit with their lending environment within a couple of weeks, at most. And, we believe that this is necessary to move the needle for lenders and the lending industry as a whole. Your lending system should be a try-before-you-buy scenario, just like many things you see these days. And, if your lending software partner isn’t offering rapid prototyping to make this happen, then we’d suggest simply asking, “why?”
Ready to preview your own prototyped lending experience? Start with the suite of lending products and trusted team at Financial Network, Inc. Take a no-commitment product tour today to get started.
While we keep an eye on what’s coming next, and continue to stay educated and prepared to push the fintech industry forward, the loan origination software experts at FNI will keep providing insights and, of course, providing hands-on and high-level service to our loan origination platform partners. If you’re ready for direct access to decision strategy management and more, talk to a loan origination expert.
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