customer stories
Providence Capital Funding strengthens fraud detection and underwriting confidence with Ocrolus Detect
Customer Stories
Providence Capital Funding strengthens fraud detection and underwriting confidence with Ocrolus Detect
Small business lending | Detect
Providence Capital Funding is an equipment financing company based in Brea, California, with more than 20 years in business. As fraud tactics became more sophisticated and harder to identify through manual review alone, the company looked for a way to strengthen its underwriting process with greater consistency and confidence.
The company partnered with Ocrolus, an AI workflow and analytics platform with robust fraud detection, to surface potential document manipulation and support more informed fraud detection decisions across its credit workflows.
Challenge
Experienced credit teams relied on manual bank statement review, making it harder to consistently surface and clearly communicate potential fraud risk as document complexity increased.
Solution
Providence Capital Funding implemented Ocrolus Detect, using AI-powered fraud signals to identify suspicious document activity and support more objective, data-backed underwriting decisions.
Result
The credit team strengthened fraud prevention, improved decision confidence and created clearer alignment across underwriting and sales teams.
Challenge: Manual review limited visibility into potential fraud signals
Before adopting Ocrolus, Providence Capital relied primarily on manual bank statement review to assess borrower risk. Credit teams analyzed deposits, cash flow trends, NSF activity and transaction patterns by hand, applying deep experience to identify potential concerns.
“It was a lot of manual review,” said Steven Ward, Credit Manager at Providence Capital. We review bank statements to analyze deposits, trends and working capital, but doing it manually always leaves room for human error.”
As document complexity increased, it became more difficult to consistently demonstrate risk, particularly when issues were subtle. “You might notice formatting inconsistencies or unusual transaction activity,” Ward said, “but without objective signals, it can be difficult to clearly demonstrate why a file is problematic.”
The need for an additional layer of protection became clear after Providence Capital approved a deal that was later identified as fraudulent. The discovery occurred before the company implemented Ocrolus, reinforcing the value of automated fraud detection as a complement to manual review. In hindsight, Ward noted that having Detect in place earlier could have helped surface risk sooner and reduce unnecessary exposure.
Solution: AI-powered fraud detection adds objective risk signals
Providence Capital implemented Ocrolus to add a consistent, AI-powered layer of fraud detection across its underwriting workflows. Detect analyzes uploaded bank statements, identifying suspicious file origins, editing activity and potential document manipulation to deliver decision-ready insights that support more confident credit decisions.
“For us, Ocrolus is another voice in the room,” Ward said. “Instead of relying only on experience, we can point to the data and say this is what the signals are showing.”
Ocrolus now serves as a standard reference point for the credit team, reinforcing best practices and reducing reliance on subjective judgment alone. Transactions are increasingly run through Detect as part of the normal review process, helping ensure potential risks are evaluated early.
From an operational standpoint, the platform also supports training and internal alignment. Liz Winkelmann, Operations Director at Providence Capital, said the platform provides a shared framework for evaluating bank statements. “It helps us teach people how to review bank statements, especially for our working capital product,” Winkelmann said. “It gives us a consistent way to assess risk before sending deals to our funding sources.”
Result: Greater confidence and clarity across underwriting decisions
With Detect embedded into its underwriting workflows, Providence Capital strengthened fraud prevention while improving confidence and consistency across credit decisions.
Detect helps the credit team identify outlier deposits, suspicious transaction activity and potential document inconsistencies earlier in the review process, reducing the likelihood of costly fraud. Ward noted that stopping even a single fraudulent deal can offset the cost of the platform over time.
The platform has also improved communication between credit and sales teams by grounding decisions in clear data rather than opinion. “Rather than relying on subjective back-and-forth, we can reference the bank statement itself and explain the rationale behind our decision,” Winkelmann said.
Benefits include:
- Earlier visibility into potential document manipulation and fraud risk
- More consistent, data-backed underwriting decisions
- Clearer alignment and faster resolution between credit and sales teams
Why Providence Capital recommends Ocrolus
Providence Capital views Ocrolus as both a fraud detection solution and a trusted partner. The team cited the Ocrolus support model as a key factor in successful adoption.
“Working with the Ocrolus team has made a huge difference,” Winkelmann said. “They always come from a place of yes and are willing to walk through the dashboard multiple times, especially as we onboard new employees.”
She added that the relationship feels collaborative and invested. “It really feels like Ocrolus is committed to our business as much as we’re committed to theirs,” Winkelmann said.
For Providence Capital, Ocrolus provides the clarity and confidence needed to protect against fraud, support underwriting teams and make informed lending decisions in a changing risk environment.
“Ocrolus Detect gives us another voice in the room. It helps us clearly show why something in a bank statement is concerning and makes our underwriting decisions more confident and defensible.”
Steven Ward, Credit Manager at Providence Capital Funding
