Callum Dunbar, Dancerace: Thanks for joining me again, for another ‘Tech Talks’ interviews on lending technology. Today we're going to be talking about borrower experiences.
From your perspective, what do borrowers want?
Elliot Avison, Dancerace: I think, first and foremost, they want money!
When they're going through the funding process, they want all the barriers removed for getting them their goal, which is to get cash to support their business.
They want that to be done really easily. So how do lenders do that? They look at each of the steps.
First, at having a really good onboarding experience that helps borrowers get access to money. That's obviously as early in the processes as you can get.
We then have communication; making sure that they're being communicated about things that they need to be, and not just bombarding them with pointless requests for information.
They need efficiency, in the day-to-day, when they've got to transmit information to the lender.
And they have to get information so that they can understand what they're being charged.
All of that needs to be done quickly. Borrowers want to use a system that doesn't require them to have training or any guidance. So a really good user experience and customer experience is key
Versatility is the other point. Customers want to borrow money, but if they’ve come to a lender for invoice discounting, they don't want to then have to contact another lender. If they suddenly need a loan or want investment, it'd be great for them to see versatility around the products that support their needs. Because those needs will surely change.
CD: Is there anything else you want to talk about in terms of how lending software can add value to the borrower experience?
EA: I mean, with access to information now being as good as it can be, I think that when you lend money to a business, there's a huge amount of opportunity to allow that software to also give the business insight into their own business.
For example, if we're taking a borrower’s full accounting data, and we've got professionals on the end of the phone who are able to analyse that information, and to see if they're winning or losing, why not play that information back to the borrower, with the dashboarding capabilities and the access to data? A little bit of structuring can offer that view.
The other thing it can do is improve efficiency, using straight-through processing or algorithms to analyse whether or not a borrower is entitled to funds, and making sure that's done with as few touch points as possible, so that it's quicker and easier.
All of these things are features in software, and they ultimately get the borrower what they need.
I think, obviously, product versatility within software enables lenders to deliver better quality products, more understandable products, and by ensuring every product meets that person's borrowing requirements, then lenders’ operating expense will also be greatly improved.
Edited for clarity.