AI-driven risk management decisioning and monitoring platform EnFi is automating the credit approval process for financial institutions while maintaining compliance, freeing up employees to focus on other areas of operations. 

EnFi uses natural language processing and modern AI models to extract information from loan and security agreements and offer instant compliance, Chief Technology Officer Scott Weller tells Bank Automation News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast.  

Digital bank Grasshopper Bank is among users of the tech, he says.  

EnFi will demonstrate its technology at Bank Automation Summit U.S. in Nashville, Tenn., on March 3.  

Financial institutions are focused on IT resilience as outages repeatedly disrupt operations such as the ones that affected Crowdstrike, Bank of America, Monzo and others this year. 

With outage repercussions in mind, organizations are investing in infrastructure, teams and resiliency strategies to reduce downtime and losses, software company Cockroach Labs co-founder and Chief Executive Spencer Kimball tells Bank Automation News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. 

In a survey conducted by Cockroach Labs and Wakefield Research, 100% of respondents said they had experienced unplanned or unexpected downtime in the past 12 months. The report surveyed 1,000 senior cloud architects and engineering and technology executives from Aug. 29 to Sept. 10.  

The report also found: 

• 53% of banking and financial service companies experience outages or service interruptions weekly or more frequently; 
• 93% of executives surveyed said they lose sleep over the impacts of unplanned downtime; and 
• Cost per outage ranges from $10,000 to $1 million.  

Listen as Kimball discusses what is causing these outages and how to build resilient infrastructure. 

Fintech Appli recently launched an AI-driven financial calculator that can be embedded into a financial institution’s lending platform in minutes using just one line of code.   

"AI is best used when it's most practical,” founder and chief executive of the Salt Lake City startup Tim Pranger tells Bank Automation News on this episode of the “The Buzz” podcast. 

Appli’s solution, which can be customized or white-labeled for financial institutions, uses AI to drive better lending and engagement experiences on financial institutions’ websites, Pranger says. 

Using AI-driven confidence models, Appli takes client inputs including income, debt, potential credit score and determines in real time the likelihood of loan approval, he says. Customers then get “specific, tailored advice to them” about lending options. 

Appli will demonstrate its technology at Bank Automation Summit U.S. 2025 in Nashville, Tenn., on March 3. 

The technology is currently used by three financial institutions, Pranger tells BAN, declining to identify them.  

Esquire Bank considers client needs when determining where to invest in products and innovation. 

The New York-based bank, which provides small businesses lending and litigation finance, is working on customized lending for its litigation platform that is expected to roll out early next year, Chief Executive Andrew Sagliocca tells Bank Automation News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast.  

“The best thing we can do in either vertical we serve nationally is to make sure we shut our mouth and listen to what the client not only has to say, but more importantly, let them describe their business, ... their pain points and what their frustrations are,” he says. 

When lending to niche markets, traditional tech providers often don’t have the products necessary out of the box to serve those clients; that’s where significant customization of technology comes into play, he says.  

To offer customized tools to clients, the bank keeps two to three projects in its innovation pipeline with 20 to 30 programmers at a time, he said. 

Listen as Sagliocca discusses Esquire’s approach to serving underserved markets  tapping tech-driven solutions and quality data.  

J.P. Morgan is joining French payments network Cartes Bancaires, Mike Lozanoff, managing director and global head of merchant services at J.P. Morgan, tells Bank Automation News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. 

The bank is tapping cloud-based Renovite to build the connection to the network, Lozanoff says. The bank acquired Renovite in 2022 and is using the cloud-based solution and its team to build the tech, he says.  

“We’ll be the first American bank actually part of the French banking system, where we’ll be registered and able to offer that card type directly in France,” he says. 

Cartes Bancaires is “favorable to merchants” as a network as the cost of payment is low, Lozanoff says. The bank plans to have the card offering available by 2025.  

Listen as Lozanoff discusses updates to JPM’s merchant acquiring business, including international efforts, e-commerce innovation and in-store offerings.  

Listen as Matt Denham discusses how fintechs can boost digital engagement on FI platforms.  

Listen to ConnectOne’s Sharif Alexandre and Siya Vansia, chief innovation and brand officer at the bank, discuss technology and data strategies. 

Listen as Jess Turner discusses open banking innovation, regulation and the future of open banking for consumers and small businesses. 

Listen as Sanjiv Das discusses POS financing and the opportunity it presents for lenders. 

Listen as Rob Krugman discusses what banks are doing right with AI.