Latest news with #ZestAI
Forbes
27-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Lenders Can Prepare For A Renovation Boom
Mike de Vere is CEO of Zest AI. Forget the house hunt—America is picking up the hammer instead. With mortgage rates stuck between 6% and 7% and many homeowners locked into low rates from the pandemic years, they're choosing to stay put and invest in where they are. Today's housing market isn't about expansion, it's about transformation—fueling what some experts anticipate could be a 5% gain in remodeling activity in 2025. And who can blame them? Home prices keep rising. The median home-sale price in the U.S. as of April 2025 was $414,000, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). That's an all-time high for the month of April and marks the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year home-price increases, according to Bankrate. It's no wonder people are thinking, 'Why buy new when we can improve what we already have?' At the same time, budgets are tight. With inflation still biting, rising unemployment and a staggering 70% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, homeowners are looking for smarter, more affordable ways to borrow. Enter home equity lines of credit (HELOCs): cost-effective lifelines that can offer quick access to cash when it's needed most. And with summer here—the busy season for home projects—the race is on. Currently, there is about $35 trillion in nationwide home equity, with 30% of banks and 62% of credit unions citing home equity loans as a high priority in 2025. The question isn't whether demand exists, but whether financial institutions have the agility to capture it responsibly. In this high-stakes season, only the lenders that can move quickly, adjust intelligently and make confident decisions will win, all without compromising risk. The Cost Of Sitting On The Sidelines In Uncertain Times In times like these, playing it safe is playing to lose. Lenders who delay updating their strategies risk not only missing out on market share but also letting down the communities they serve. The most successful institutions aren't the ones that slam the brakes on lending when times get tough. They're the ones who have their hands on the steering wheel, adapting intelligently to maintain control over policies and make quick adjustments. These institutions are especially prepared to tackle surging demand, especially during peak seasons. Artificial intelligence (AI) in lending isn't new. Machine learning underwriting models have been helping lenders make smarter, more efficient decisions for years, but what lenders need from AI today is very different than even just a few years ago. What's critical now is actual performance, intelligence with actionable insights, transparency and ongoing monitoring. • Do we have enough intelligence to make impactful changes, confidently? • Do we have inherent and direct control over our policies and cutoffs? • Can we take action quickly, or are we slow movers who adjust policies after delinquencies emerge? • Are our credit and risk teams empowered by meaningful data and model performance? • Do we have the kind of deep intelligence that allows us to plan, not just react? AI-powered lending solutions are helping answer these questions, increasing loan processing efficiency by up to 70% in some cases, while providing the insights needed for strategic decision-making. This isn't just about speed, it's about responsible lending that protects both institutions and borrowers. In this economy, intelligent agility is your superpower. AI is a tool that can help unlock it. A Checklist For Lenders For Renovation Season With renovation season heating up, lenders need more than speed. They need smart, swift decision-making. Here's lenders' three-step renovation season gut check: Check your agility: How quickly can you adjust lending policies when conditions change? Go beyond the basics: Do your tools provide actionable insights beyond basic approval/denial decisions? Scale with confidence: Is manual underwriting slowing you down? Can AI-automated underwriting help you make more accurate, consistent decisions at scale? Institutions that nail this trifecta won't just weather the storm, they'll be positioned to thrive during the coming renovation surge. In today's economic roller coaster, control is your seat belt. However, not every lender has the tech horsepower or in-house data scientists ready to build a safe and sound ride. Instead, they can consider partnering with companies to access tools like AI-automated underwriting, lending intelligence and fraud protection. These AI tools can help maintain portfolio health while extending responsible financing options to homeowners looking to upgrade their nests. The Path Forward: Balancing Caution With Opportunity Let's be real: 2025 won't be smooth sailing. Overly cautious? You'll leave opportunities unexplored and customers underserved, while inadequate risk assessment jeopardizes institutional stability. Not cautious enough? You'll invite risk. But lenders who balance this caution with clarity will be set to come out ahead. For lenders committed to serving their communities responsibly through uncertain times, the message is clear: Equip your team with tools that enable quick, confident decision-making. Your institution's resilience and your customers' financial well-being depend on it. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
Finextra
05-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Zest AI unveils Gen AI lending intelligence tool
Zest AI, a leader in AI lending technology, today announced the launch of LuLu Strategy, the newest module of a first-of-its kind generative AI lending intelligence platform, which delivers lending performance insights with generative AI simulations and actionable analysis. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Following the successful rollout of LuLu Pulse, the platform's first module, LuLu Strategy represents the next phase in Zest AI's comprehensive roadmap for generative AI-powered financial intelligence solutions. In its initial launch, the new offering will be available exclusively to MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE: MLNK) customers, provisioning financial institutions of all sizes with powerful generative AI tools that they previously did not have. "By equipping financial institutions with advanced generative AI tools like LuLu Strategy, we're not just helping individual organizations, we're strengthening the entire financial ecosystem by fostering greater innovation throughout the sector. Now, financial institutions have better insights to responsibly expand access to affordable credit to Main Street consumers, which strengthens the economy overall," said Mike de Vere, CEO of Zest AI. "This partnership with MeridianLink allows us to scale our solution rapidly across the financial services landscape, empowering regional banks and credit unions with the same caliber of technology that was once the exclusive domain of national institutions." The LuLu platform is a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enable financial institutions to optimize their lending operations and improve portfolio performance. By integrating industry public data and institution-specific data, LuLu serves as a centralized intelligence hub that consolidates multiple data sources into a single, authoritative platform that can be customized to meet customer-specific needs. With the new LuLu Strategy module, financial institutions can access: • Policy simulations: ask LuLu for policy recommendations to achieve certain business objectives or change policy rules and quantify the impact on automation, approval rate, and risk. • Application insights: provide deeper understanding of borrower behavior patterns, analyze application metrics and track borrower statistics over time. • Unbooked application analysis: identify missed opportunities by comparing pricing and performance of funded versus unfunded loans. • Loan performance monitoring: access ongoing intelligence to continuously refine lending strategies with in-depth tracking of loan performance, approvals, automation, and fraud as well as delinquency and charge-off investigations. "While generative AI adoption remains limited among the majority of financial institutions and lenders, LuLu bridges this technology gap, providing intuitive access to powerful predictive models and analytical capabilities that were previously out of reach for many institutions," said Megan Pulliam, SVP of MeridianLink® Marketplace. "Using the power of MeridianLink® Data Connect, the new LuLu Strategy module delivers forward-looking intelligence to MeridianLink customers to help adapt, compete, and win in dynamic markets. Layering LuLu on top of a customer's continually refreshed data set arms them with more insights faster for more agility and flexibility in their lending operations." LuLu Strategy builds on the foundation established by LuLu Pulse and represents the second step in Zest AI's lending intelligence platform. Zest AI has announced an ambitious roadmap for the LuLu platform, with several other modules being released over the coming quarters to support lending operations across compliance, institutional knowledge management, access and pricing.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Temenos adds Zest AI credit and fraud tech to loan origination system
Zest AI has integrated its AI-driven credit decisioning and fraud detection systems with the Temenos Loan Origination system. This collaboration aims to provide traditional financial organisations in the US with advanced tools to enhance loan approval rates while ensuring effective risk management. In a statement, Zest AI said its technology can evaluate 'thousands' of data points, surpassing the capabilities of conventional credit models, which leads to improved accuracy and efficiency in lending decisions. Furthermore, the Zest Protect system is designed to detect fraudulent applications in real-time, ensuring that the customer experience remains uninterrupted. This feature enables financial institutions to tailor their security measures according to their specific risk tolerance. Temenos chief product officer Sai Rangachari said: 'The native integration with Zest AI addresses both challenges and is equipping the many credit unions and community banks across North America choosing our lending platform with AI capabilities previously available only to the largest financial institutions.' The Temenos Loan Origination solution is adaptable for both direct and indirect lending, offering 'advanced automation' and the ability to integrate seamlessly with third-party services. Financial institutions that adopt Zest AI's underwriting solutions can automate between 60% to 80% of their lending decisions and expect a reduction in charge-offs by 20%, the firm claimed. This integration is expected to enhance operational efficiency and profitability for lenders, allowing them to provide quicker decisions with improved security measures. Zest AI CEO Mike de Vere said: 'Temenos' robust market presence and technological infrastructure provide the foundation to help offer more banks and credit unions our AI tools. 'Together, we're creating a powerful combination that enables banks and credit unions to compete with fintechs while helping expand access to credit to people that traditional models often overlook.' In December 2024, Zest AI secured $200m from Insight Partners to enhance its product portfolio, emphasising fraud protection and generative AI in lending. "Temenos adds Zest AI credit and fraud tech to loan origination system" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
