Credit Unions

Why credit unions can't afford to wait on AI

Zest AI team
January 27, 2020

Mention the words “machine learning,” and many credit union executives might start seeing visions — maybe, better termed, nightmares — of robots replacing people or going rogue with ruinous lending decisions.

Others worry that their data sets may not be robust enough, especially compared to the vast repositories of much larger financial services firms. Still others are skeptical that these investments will ever pay off. Only five percent of credit unions have incorporated AI/ML solutions into their lending business, according to a study of a broad array of mortgage lenders released last fall by Fannie Mae.

VyStar Credit Union is not one of those credit unions. VyStar believes that their credit union can be at the forefront of technology adoption and institutional change.

Working with Zest AI, VyStar will be one of the first credit unions to adopt AI-automated underwriting. High on their agenda for AI is cost-savings associated with greater automation, and the opportunity to offer instant decisions, better pricing, and personalized service to its 675,000 members.

Using an AI-powered underwriting model, we can take advantage of vastly more data, more sophisticated math, and increased automation to more nimbly respond to the market — and more precisely evaluate and price the risk of new or existing members seeking a loan.


As VyStar Chief Lending Officer Jenny Vipperman writes in this op-ed in Credit Union Journal, when it comes to adopting AI, “We believe that we can’t afford to wait.”

latest
March 28, 2024
Innovation In Lending
Looking beyond market pain points to find purpose
March 25, 2024
Women’s History Month: sisters are doin' it for themselves
February 27, 2024
Zest Cares — we mean it when we say it!