Ocrolus Blog

Credit unions have long differentiated themselves through personal service and community focus. Yet that member-first promise is strained when lenders evaluate applicants who do not fit inside traditional credit boxes. Gig workers, ride-share drivers, small business owners and other non-traditional income earners who rely on variable income usually submit bank statements rather than W-2s. Reviewing those statements line by line takes time, introduces subjectivity and forces members to wait for answers. Manual workflows create two problems. First, processors and underwriters spend hours parsing deposits, filtering transfers and separating business from personal activity. Second, inconsistent calculations increase default risk because the…

AI in financial services has evolved from a novel, promising technology to effectively become a prerequisite for mortgage lenders that want to stay competitive in a modern underwriting techscape. The mortgage lenders we at Ocrolus are meeting with on a weekly basis are increasingly focused on how best to use AI, how to implement mortgage document automation technology and how to prepare teams for the inevitable change in streamlined, automated mortgage operations. Achieving a smooth transition to AI‑powered decisioning requires more than simply purchasing software and training employees. Lenders must first analyze every step of their underwriting process for opportunities…

After a loan is disbursed, lenders often shift their focus toward servicing and collections. But without visibility into evolving borrower health through ongoing loan health monitoring, they can find themselves blindsided by defaults that seemed to come out of nowhere. Static data leaves lenders reactive, scrambling for solutions after risk materializes. Monitoring loan health post-funding closes this gap. It provides lenders with valuable, real-time insights that help identify default risk early, protect portfolio performance and drive more thoughtful borrower engagement. By continuously tracking signals like income stability, cash-flow consistency and payment behavior, lenders can engage in proactive loan portfolio management,…

Rethinking readiness The financial industry is caught in a perpetual balancing act. One month, macroeconomic signals point toward growth and rising demand for credit. The next, a regulatory shift or unexpected economic headwind prompts lenders to tighten their belts. In this type of environment, the real question isn’t if change will occur, but how quickly you can pivot when it does. For many lenders, this boils down to operational readiness. The days of static, long-term capacity planning are over. Now, institutions are seeking infrastructure that scales in sync with real-world conditions—an approach that lets them capture opportunities in good times…

Mortgage lenders today face a critical challenge: replacing outdated, manual workflows with smarter, scalable solutions.  With  AI-powered mortgage automation from Ocrolus, lenders can reduce origination costs, eliminate inefficiencies, and stay competitive in any market cycle. Transforming cost centers into efficiency drivers with AI Mortgage origination costs continue to climb, putting pressure on lenders to reduce expenses while maintaining service quality. According to a 2024 Freddie Mac report, mortgage origination costs have increased 35%—or roughly $3,000—over the last three years. Rather than depending on costly and disruptive staffing adjustments, forward-looking lenders leverage AI and automation to drive continuous efficiency and agile…

Traditional underwriting processes built on credit bureau data provide a baseline for assessing risk, but they often neglect the nuanced realities of running a small business. As competition intensifies in the SMB lending market, funders are turning to new technologies and underwriting automation to grow their portfolios and serve more qualified borrowers without accumulating unnecessary risk. Cash flow analytics has emerged as a foundational tool in this evolution. By analyzing income trends, expenses, transaction categories and financial ratios early in the underwriting funnel, SMB funders can move beyond a binary credit score and begin to qualify borrowers on the true…

Borrower profiles are growing more complex. To keep up, mortgage lenders need an easier, more efficient way to calculate income, gain deeper financial insights and, ultimately, make smarter lending decisions. Ocrolus recently introduced several key updates to our Bank Statement Income Calculator (BSIC), a powerful tool that provides in-depth financial analysis derived from a borrower’s bank statements. The updates are designed to enhance data transparency, improve usability and optimize reporting processes for lenders underwriting non-QM loans. With these enhancements, lenders can analyze borrower income, streamline decision-making and gain valuable insights without the need for tedious, manual calculations. Simplifying complex mortgage…

Team Ocrolus had a full month of events in March, with Fintech Meetup, ICE Experience and the Funders Forum + Brokers Expo. Each conference offered a unique opportunity – whether to reconnect with longtime partners, forge new relationships or pick up some key industry insights. Across all three events, a consistent theme emerged: lenders are focused on streamlining underwriting processes to stay competitive. Forward-thinking lenders recognize that automating manual, error-prone underwriting tasks is no longer a nice-to-have luxury, but rather is a necessity for organizations to keep their operating with a competitive edge in an evolving lending ecosystem. Bringing mortgage…

Underwriting workflows operate at peak efficiency when lenders spend less time on manual, error-prone tasks like data entry and more time on high-value activities that require human expertise, such as assessing each borrower’s unique financial situation. Ocrolus’ AI-powered data and analytics platform is helping lenders achieve this goal by providing decision-ready data. With highly accurate, structured information, underwriting teams can work more efficiently, mitigate risk and streamline their operations. A recent McKinsey report highlights data inaccuracy as the biggest risk organizations face when using AI, making precision more critical than ever. Document analysis is one of the most challenging workflows…

The role of AI in financial services is expanding quickly. For lenders, that means new ways to process applications, assess risk and detect signs of fraud. These solutions help forward-thinking mortgage, consumer and small business lenders increase operational efficiency, reduce costs and improve decision-making. The pace of AI development is accelerating, with major players like OpenAI, Gemini and Anthropic continually pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. New AI models emerge regularly, each promising improved accuracy, faster processing and better insights. While these advances create opportunities to modernize lending workflows, staying current can feel overwhelming. The value of partnering with an…

The financial services industry has embraced digitalization, prioritizing efficiency and seamless user experiences. Yet, physical documents like tax returns, bank statements, and pay stubs remain essential to the underwriting process. Combining digital and document-based data into a single, accurate financial profile is key to a frictionless customer experience and informed lending decisions. In a recent live session, Ocrolus SVP of Growth David Snitkof and Erik Jilnö, Product Manager at Flinks, discussed how AI-powered underwriting and automated document processing streamline financial data aggregation, creating a unified workflow for lenders. The evolution of docs + digital A docs + digital approach enables…

Ocrolus and OnDeck recently released the latest edition of the Small Business Cash Flow Trend Report, uncovering valuable insights on U.S. small business trends and sentiment from Q4 2024. The report is based on survey responses from 454 small businesses as well as cash flow data from over 3 million small businesses who applied for working capital financing. The findings of the report reinforce an optimistic outlook for 2025 while identifying key trends surrounding businesses’ access to credit and cash flow management. Reliance on non-bank lenders is increasing A recurring trend in the Small Business Cash Flow Trend Report is…

AI is advancing every day, with newer, better models always around the corner. Navigating this quickly changing world of technology on their own can be challenging, complex and costly for financial service providers. But there is a better way. Lenders are already seeing the benefits of AI in lending and by partnering with innovative technology providers that offer vertical-specific financial AI solutions, they can take advantage of the latest advancements without constantly reworking their own technology stack or processes. Technology partners handle updates and integrations, continuously tuning models with high-quality training data to enhance accuracy, improve decision-making and provide deeper…

As the role of technology has grown and evolved in all aspects of our daily lives, so have the preferences of homebuyers. Millennials continue to dominate homeownership, bringing with them a strong preference for fast, transparent mortgage experiences. AI-powered tools help lenders keep pace with these expectations and gain a competitive edge. Leading mortgage lenders are already leveraging AI to capitalize on this trend in customer preferences. To provide homebuyers with a user-friendly experience, lenders should be modernizing their tech stack with AI-powered automation – and those who don’t risk losing their competitive edge. Most borrowers prefer an online experience…

Government-backed loan programs are invaluable to mortgage lenders, helping them serve more borrowers, reduce risk through guarantees and maintain capital for issuing new mortgages. Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans expand homeownership opportunities for diverse borrower groups, while Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ensure market stability by purchasing loans from originators. When done manually, tailoring income calculations to meet these loan programs’ criteria can be a significant pain point for mortgage lenders. Various loan types require specific income calculations, which can be complex and require specialized expertise. For lenders,…

It’s clear now more than ever that AI is here to stay in the world of financial services. Just two years ago, AI might have been seen as a promising but still emerging technology that could supplement or enhance existing workflows in financial services. Today, it’s a necessity for organizations looking to stay ahead of an increasingly competitive financial industry. But it’s not just the technology itself that is supercharging the industry – the combination of AI and human expertise working in tandem is giving forward-thinking lenders a leg up against the rest of the pack. Ocrolus CEO Sam Bobley,…

Once a prohibitively time-consuming task, leveraging bank statement data for cash flow analysis has been made more accessible through automation. With AI-driven document automation and analysis, Ocrolus has the ability to dive deep into bank statements to help small business funders truly understand applicants’ financial health. To uncover the insights from cash flow analysis, we dug through data from small business funders who used Ocrolus in the second half of 2024. Our findings highlighted several key trends funders will want to keep their eye on in 2025. Common types of small businesses applying for funding From July to December 2024,…

A complete understanding of applicants’ financial health is critical for small business funders. These funders analyze financial data from various sources daily to determine creditworthiness, connect borrowers with capital and make informed financial decisions. However, small business funders relying on traditional underwriting sources, such as credit bureau data, may not be getting the full picture. While these sources hold valuable information, they can fall short of providing a comprehensive view of a small business’s financial health. Cash flow data helps funders examine financial health more deeply, offering detailed insights into revenue, expenses and overall trends in businesses’ bank statements. With…