CHICAGO — Alliant Credit Union said it has launched a digital mortgage and home equity lending platform designed to automate more of the borrowing process and shorten closing times.
The Chicago-based credit union, which reports nearly one-million members and $20 billion in assets, said the platform will provide an end-to-end digital home lending experience, allowing members to move from an instant mortgage prequalification through application and closing.
The platform, developed through a partnership with Blend Labs, will include automated preapprovals, income and asset verification, identity and fraud checks, real-time application status updates and digital closing capabilities.
“By providing automated prequalification within minutes, we are helping members move quickly and confidently in a competitive housing market,” Dan Bauer, Alliant’s head of residential lending, said in announcing the partnership.
HELOC Closings Targeted at 15 Days or Less
Alliant said it also plans to expand the Blend platform to home equity lending, including home equity lines of credit.
Bauer said the credit union is targeting HELOC closing times of 15 days or less as part of the initiative.
The changes are intended to reduce manual steps for both borrowers and employees while giving members greater visibility into where they are in the lending process, according to Alliant.
The credit union said the platform eventually will incorporate artificial intelligence capabilities that can extract information from documents and automatically populate fields, reducing the amount of information members must manually enter.
Part of Broader Digital Transformation
Alliant said the partnership with Blend is part of a broader effort to transform its digital services.
“We’re rethinking every experience our members have with us,” Alliant CEO Mike Dobbins said. “Home lending is one of the first places members will see that vision come to life, but it won’t be the last.”
Alliant describes itself as a national digital credit union with more than 90 years of history.
Blend Labs, a financial technology company, provides digital origination technology used for mortgage, consumer banking and other lending products.
Alliant said the new home lending platform is intended to combine automation with a simplified member experience as the credit union continues investing in its digital operations.
