Lentra to speed up loan processing using AI tech, aims to double business

Lentra integrates AI aims to revolutionise loan disbursement and transform the banking industry with rapid credit decisions, new digital tools

For software-as-a-service player Lentra, one of the biggest focuses has been to create solutions that allow banks to reduce the time of start and disbursement of a loan to a few seconds.

The firm has been taking the aid of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve this target. Innovations in its solutions have allowed the firms to double their business every year.

Sandeep Mathur, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Lentra, shares that the company has managed to bring this time to seven seconds.

“Today, the challenge is that data sources are very diverse. One has to extract that data, analyse it quickly before arriving at a credit decision as the customer is not patient anymore. They have multiple options to choose from, and any lender would want to make a quick conclusion. We are able to make a decision in seven seconds,” Mathur said.

He elucidated that the company brings over 250 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on the platform which helps its customers arrive at a credit decision swiftly.

Mathur added that the company aims to double its business in India on the back of robust growth in the banking industry.

“We double our business every year. We had both volume growth, and growth in the amount of loans that we processed on the platform. We recorded 50 per cent growth on the amount of loans processed, a seven-fold increase on API calls, among others. India has been a shining star. So when the banking world does well, we do well, because we are a service provider to the banking industry,” he added.

Founded in 2019, Lentra provides tech services to financial institutions such as banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and even fintechs to create custom loan products, and improve customer experience.

“If I'm taking a very small credit decision, it's very easy. To do it in under seven seconds, one needs a machine. If a machine has to do it, then it should have a system and a platform on which it can run iterations very quickly,” he added.

The company claims that its digital lending platform serves over 50 banks. It has processed over $20 billion worth of loan applications to date with two million loans being processed monthly.

Mathur explains the need for a loan management system (LMS) at various financial institutions with the growth in loan volumes in the country.

“We built our product 1LMS to cater to the demand of growing loan volumes in the country which is the case during the festive season. From a technology standpoint, very little has happened within the LMS marketplace in the past 15-20 years. It is one of those areas, in which a lot of banks and NBFCs have implemented the system and not gone ahead and transformed it,” he said.

Little transformation within the space has affected the way banks do their business, according to him.

“Today's LMS doesn't allow you to do unsecured and secured loans, EMI and non-EMI loans on the same platform. There are lots of problems and challenges with the system, which ultimately hampers the business of the banks. This is something that we want to remove as a hurdle,” Mathur added.

That said, the company has won orders to implement this system from major banks across the country.

Mathur added; “LMS is a large market and we are bullish on it. We think 1LMS solves most of the aforementioned challenges. Over the next few months, we are going to implement the system across major banks in the country.”

The Pune-based company said it is focused on servicing larger banks, NBFCs, and fintechs. Its list of major clientele includes HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Central Bank, Avanse Financial Services, among others.

Last month, the company announced the launch of three artificial intelligence (AI) products for the financial sector during the company's Lentra Digital Lending Summit in Mumbai.

The company launched AI products, namely Lentra Convo, Lentra Insights, and Lentra Wingman, to serve lenders with solutions that enhance the lending processes.

Lentra Convo enables natural conversations in multiple Indian languages to simplify the loan origination journey. The product provides end-customers with a personalised experience in terms of language and enhances the lending process.

The company's second launch, Lentra Insights, provides actionable intelligence to a lending institution to optimise credit policy and the design of a loan journey.

Similarly, Lentra Wingman assists loan underwriters in summarising financial information from various sources, such as bank statements and other financial transaction records. The product can identify financial information, which is processed in the form of natural language questions. Human underwriters who can focus on loan applications can address the questions on loan applications requiring additional scrutiny.