Truliant Federal Credit Union

Truliant, shining brightly for members with the power of AI

Discover how Truliant Federal Credit Union partnered with Zest AI to double instant approval rates, automate up to 77% of personal loan decisions, and cut delinquencies by 24%. Learn how AI-powered underwriting drives fairness, efficiency, and inclusive credit access.

The zest AI effect

increase in instant approvals overall

of personal loan approvals automated

of direct auto loans automated

average reduction in delinquencies

At a glance

Problem

Truliant Federal Credit Union was expanding rapidly across Virginia and the Carolinas, but needed to handle upwards of 30,000 loan applications per month with the same underwriting team while also improving fairness and serving underbanked communities as a newly certified CDFI.

SOLUTION

Truliant partnered with Zest AI to automate decisioning across their full lending portfolio, removing unconscious bias from the process and freeing up underwriters to focus time and resources on members who needed more support.

RESULTS

Truliant achieved a 2-3x increase in instant approvals, with automation rates reaching 68% for direct auto, 47% for indirect auto, 77% for personal loans, and 63% for credit cards, all while cutting delinquencies and expanding affordable credit access across their communities.

A solution to grow and serve more efficiently

Truliant’s team has been in growth mode—adding nine more branches across Virginia and the Carolinas to ramp up its efforts in expanding the membership base while keeping the same team of underwriters. As a result, they needed a solution that would allow the team to handle a high loan volume (upwards of 30,000 per month), and still have time and resources for members that require additional review and support.

Additionally, Truliant wanted their members to receive fast and fair answers, improving member experience and removing unconscious bias from their loan decisioning process. After receiving certification as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), they needed to ensure their funding went towards initiatives that would better serve underbanked communities and expand access to affordable credit.

AI that makes a difference

Thanks to the Zest AI team’s technology and expertise, Truliant has been able to increase their efficiency and ability to better serve all of their members. Since partnering with Zest AI, Truliant has seen a 2-3x increase in instant approvals and automation across their portfolios. The team has so far been able to automate 68% of all direct auto approvals, 47% of all indirect auto approvals, 77% of all personal loan approvals, and 63% of all credit card approvals.

The credit union has been able to lend more effectively across their diverse communities while still cutting delinquencies. The ability to help more members gain access to affordable credit is important to Truliant as it has a ripple effect in supporting the local economies of the communities they serve.

With increased efficiency and accuracy when decisioning loan applicants, Truliant has been able to dedicate more time and resources to serving the underserved, including using their CDFI funding to combat payday lending in Cleveland County, North Carolina, and South Carolina.