Zest AI to bring fast, fair credit access to credit unions of all sizes

Small credit unions gain affordable access to AI-automated credit underwriting through Zest AI's expanded product offering

‍

LOS ANGELES, CALIF., Feb. 23, 2023 — PRNewswire — Zest AI, the leader in automating underwriting with more accurate and inclusive lending insights, announced today that it has expanded its availability to its quick and equitable credit scoring software to credit unions under $300M in total assets, or $100M and under in consumer portfolio size.

With over 80 percent of credit unions falling into this segment, access to AI-automated underwriting technology is increasingly important to serve all members, especially those who may have been out of reach prior. Zest AI is excited to offer its powerful AI-automated credit underwriting technology to all credit unions, regardless of size.

"We are excited to have found an innovative partnership with Zest AI that will bring intelligence, efficiency, and assistance in streamlining our underwriting platform. This will allow us to continue helping our members in making the best financial decisions for them and their families for years to come," said Darla Kolbas, Manager of Lending Operations at Peninsula Credit Union.

As Zest AI expands the same best-in-class underwriting capabilities to smaller, local credit unions and their communities, their focus on prioritizing efficient product onboarding remains top of mind. This includes Zest AI's product configuration requiring no IT involvement, bringing fast time to value for improved underwriting, and comes with quick start tools that result in over a 60 percent increase in efficiency.

"It is important at Zest AI that we live by our mission to foster a more inclusive economy. From a technology standpoint, we want to provide powerful AI-automated credit underwriting to all credit unions, regardless of size," said Nidhi Panday Mykletun, Head of Product at Zest AI. "With our expanded solution, we can now deliver proven, accurate, and fair underwriting technology that helps smaller credit unions be more efficient and help more members, in a way that is accessible and simple to operationalize."

The importance of smaller credit unions, which make up most of the credit union space in the U.S., serve their often diverse and financially challenged communities with the best tools at their disposal. Having access to AI-powered credit underwriting is critical for smaller credit unions to deliver fairer, consistent, and efficient lending decisions to their members. This technology allows credit unions to better scale and serve their members, as well as compete in a crowded lending marketplace.

‍

About Zest AI‍

Zest AI is a tech company on a mission to make fair and transparent credit accessible for everyone. Since 2009, we've worked with financial institutions to provide AI-driven credit solutions to their borrowers. Today we work with all types of lenders — but especially credit unions — to democratize underwriting automation and equitable credit decisioning. Learn more at Zest.ai and connect with us on LinkedIn.