When it comes to tackling new technology, ICCU (Idaho Central Credit Union) strives to be ahead of the curve. In fact, the organization was an early adopter of AI technology, even investing in an AI team of product and engineers to accelerate use and adoption at the credit union. 

“With GenAI, every organization is at a different place with their comfort level, but you’ve got to start somewhere, so you might as well just jump right in and get a feel for the technology,” advised Michelle Young, Senior Product Manager, AI. “At ICCU, we’re very advanced in our adoption of these types of technologies, but even we have a lot of people on a wide spectrum of trust.” 

That’s why, when they began leveraging LuLu and AI-Automated Credit Underwriting, the team made sure it was with a deep level of certainty about the products and what they can do, particularly as they considered compliance and the comfort level examiners would have with AI-based products.  

 “I can tell you that compliance was a major focus when we began this partnership, and we dedicated a lot of time to ensuring that our approach to using Zest AI for underwriting was both responsible and aligned with regulatory expectations,” said Wade Saunders, Senior Vice President, Member Lending. “By proactively addressing compliance considerations, we’ve been able to demonstrate thoughtful application of AI in our lending practices.” 

Enhancing lending

That strategic execution helped ICCU recognize the value of Zest AI quickly and identify ways to apply the tools more broadly within the organization.  

“I mean this in a really positive light, but our collaboration with Zest AI allows us to leverage more information and data than we ever have before,” Saunders shared. “By working together, we’re able to make smarter and faster loan decisions, combining our team’s expertise with Zest AI’s advanced technology. This partnership is exactly what we want—enhancing our capabilities and enabling us to deliver even better outcomes for our members.” 

The results speak for themselves. Since implementing AI-Automated Credit Underwriting, the team has seen a 30%+ increase in approvals in auto loans, personal loans, and credit cards. In addition, their already low delinquency rate of less than 1%, dropped an additional 0.3% following their engagement with Zest AI. 

“0.3 percent doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you consider that we’re already under a very low 1% with our delinquencies, it’s really significant,” explained Young. “We’re looking at historically low delinquencies, and at the same time, we’re lending deeper into our member base and expanding the way we work.” 

Supporting strategic efficiencies and member experience

In creating a more efficient, automated process, ICCU is also better serving its members. When instant decisioning happens, that immediate result creates a better, real-time user experience for members. Automated decisioning on loan applications has risen from around 50% of loans to 75% since bringing on Zest AI. Now, there are loan workflows that don’t involve a single staff member. 

“In today’s immediate gratification society, anything we can do to take friction out of processes helps us create an enhanced, seamless member experience,” noted Saunders. “We see our work with Zest AI as benefitting our members in that way.” 

In addition, ICCU takes a proactive approach to ensuring fairness in AI assisted lending. Zest AI’s technology includes bias testing and ongoing model monitoring, helping ICCU make consistent, equitable credit decisions for members. 

What the future holds

ICCU continues to explore new avenues to apply Zest AI tools within the organization, with the goal of getting targeted consumer lending products and credit decisioning to an automation range of 80-90%. In addition, they look forward to seeing the introduction of LuLu Strategy, which will offer internal insights powered by real-time lending data and GenAI, serving as a boon to their team.  

“We’re excited about using LuLu Strategy to provide our team members with more data and more intelligence that will allow them to focus their efforts on the decisions that really require a human touch,” said Young. “In addition, that deep dive into our application data will help us make even more strategic decisions across the organization.”  

As the team looks to the future, they see a bright path for continued automation, greater efficiencies, and enhanced member experiences with Zest AI. Their advice to other financial institutions considering how to strengthen their organizations? Partner with Zest AI. 

“I would encourage anyone who’s looking at AI for insights and automation to pick up the phone, call ICCU, and ask us about our experience. We’re willing to help, and ultimately, these conversations allow all of us to evolve and grow in today’s landscape,” stated Saunders.