Amount Introduces Small Business Lending Suite

Digital origination/decisioning company Amount has debuted a small-business-focused lending suite for banks and credit unions.

The new SMB (small- to medium-sized business) Suite, announced Tuesday (Sept. 24), is designed to support secured and unsecured lending, while streamlining deposit account origination, among other benefits.

“The financial services industry has long struggled with a range of issues in the SMB lending space,” Amount said in a news release. “Accurately assessing the credit risk of small businesses, adhering to complex regulatory requirements, and overcoming slow loan approval processes are just a few of the hurdles institutions face. Additionally, high operating costs and competitive pressure from fintech companies have intensified the need for more efficient and effective solutions.”

The release pointed to a survey conducted last year by the Federal Reserve that showed that 80% of small businesses expect their banks to deliver streamlined digital services and faster loan processing to stay competitive and efficient.

“We developed these enhanced capabilities to help financial institutions sharpen their competitive edge in attracting and retaining small business customers,” said Adam Hughes, CEO of Amount.

“In today’s market, where small business owners prioritize exceptional service and comprehensive solutions, our platform enables banks and credit unions to deliver a seamless, integrated experience for both credit and deposit origination — driving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency,” Hughes added.

PYMNTS spoke last week with Andrea Moe, vice president of customer success at Amount, about the need for lenders to embrace digital processes.

“Digital basically upends manual, paper-heavy and operationally cost-intensive processes,” Moe said during a conversation for the PYMNTS series “What’s Next in Payments: How Do You Do Digital?” adding that these processes have traditionally defined legacy banking systems.

She stressed that adopting digital tools within the financial services space not only improves operations and customer engagement, but also leads to greater profitability.

This shift is especially crucial as customers have increasingly come to favor speed, convenience and automation, the report added.

“Part of our role is helping our clients with their own customers by looking at the overall effectiveness of their funnel, of their policies, of the ways that they’re mitigating fraud,” Moe said. “And each of our customers comes to us with some nuance as it relates to their own unique priorities and what’s important. Together, we help them in striking a balance between risks and outcomes.”