This past week, Abrigo, a provider of commercial lending software and services for U.S. financial institutions, announced that Abrigo Small Business Lending has emerged from beta. The company said the increased automation improves lenders’ ability to manage increased volumes while still maintaining the human touch when needed.
“With Abrigo Small Business Lending, we have brought our approval time down to within one to two hours and set to fund immediately upon signing,” Capital City Bank’s Dan Fowler said.
Recent data from the Abrigo Customer Lending survey reveals that many financial institutions are actively seeking to grow their small business lending portfolios, recognizing that this market will be pivotal for their future success. Roughly 88% of FI survey respondents expect small business loan demand to increase with the Federal Reserve rate cut, but only 7% use a different origination process for small business vs. commercial loans.
Abrigo said that using the same process for complex commercial or industrial clients and community small businesses translates to a slower and less borrower-focused experience. According to a 2024 Federal Reserve Banks report, 41% of small business applicants had financing needs of less than $50K. Despite the relatively small loan size, these small business loans play a critical role in benefiting business owners and their communities by boosting revenue growth and local employment. Banks also benefit as a larger mix of small business loans in their portfolio is associated with higher asset growth rates, especially for banks with less than $10 billion in assets.
“Small businesses and the financial institutions serving them face a wide array of economic, logistical, and data challenges,” said Jay Blandford, CEO of Abrigo. “Abrigo Small Business Lending has customers excited because it improves speed, service quality, and growth while elevating their commitment to communities and levelling the playing field against major banks, fintech companies, and alternative lenders. This technology is purpose-built to treat small businesses like small businesses, not complex commercial clients. Abrigo Small Business Lending enables speed closer to what consumer lending offers.”
System users can accelerate decisioning and closing processes with configurable, straight-through loan processing for faster origination, with lender intervention when needed. AI-powered, transparent loan scoring lets lenders assess applicants more comprehensively. Users can also gather small business lending data for 1071 reporting.
The application collects required data to ensure unbiased lending and compliant reporting and adapts and integrates manual reviews.
