customer stories
Volo Loans cuts income and document review time by up to 85% with Ocrolus
Customer Stories
Volo Loans cuts income and document review time by up to 85% with Ocrolus
Mortgage | Classify & Analyze
Volo Loans provides financing for U.S. citizens and Canadians purchasing homes internationally. The lender supports borrowers with complex financial profiles, including self-employed individuals and investors with multiple businesses, requiring an adaptable approach to income analysis and underwriting.
To streamline operations and scale efficiently, Volo Loans partnered with Ocrolus, an AI-powered workflow and analytics platform that automates document classification and income analysis while preserving underwriting control.
Challenge
Manual document review and income analysis slowed underwriting and limited the lender’s ability to scale in a cyclical lending environment.
Solution
Volo Loans implemented Ocrolus to automate document classification and income analysis while maintaining underwriter review and validation.
Result
Income and document review time dropped by up to 85%, saving an average of five to six hours per loan file and enabling the Volo Loans team to stay lean while improving the borrower experience.
Challenge: Manual document review limited speed and scalability
Before adopting Ocrolus, Volo Loans relied on a highly manual underwriting process. Borrowers uploaded documents through an online portal, after which underwriters saved files, organized them into folders and reviewed each document by hand.
“It was very manual, very cumbersome and very hard,” said Nate Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Volo Loans. “An underwriter would go through everything and double-check it all manually.”
The challenge intensified due to the lender’s nontraditional borrower profiles. Volo Loans evaluates W-2 income, bank statements and complex business tax returns, often across multiple entities. In some cases, borrowers submit documentation for dozens of businesses, creating a significant manual review burden.
“Before Ocrolus, reviewing something like [non-traditional borrower profiles] could take hours or even several days,” Smith said. “It was incredibly time-consuming and difficult to scale.”
The manual process slowed underwriting, increased operational strain and made it difficult to stay agile in a cyclical lending environment.
Solution: Automated income analysis with underwriter control
Volo Loans implemented Ocrolus to automate document ingestion, classification and income calculations. Using Ocrolus, the team uploads tax returns, bank statements and supporting documents directly into the platform, where AI-powered automation sorts, stacks and analyzes files.
“Once we drag and drop the documents, Ocrolus does its thing,” Smith said. “It saves us hours and hours of time from an underwriting and processing standpoint.”
Ocrolus’ income analysis organizes documents into clear categories, structuring wage income, self-employed income and rental income while flagging discrepancies for review. Underwriters can view original source documents directly within the platform to validate calculations and evaluate exceptions.
“It breaks everything down into buckets and calls out anything that looks off,” Smith said. “Underwriting reviews can be completed faster and with more confidence.”
Rather than replacing underwriting expertise, Ocrolus enhances it by removing manual work and increasing consistency.
“It’s not underwriting the loan for us,” Smith said. “It’s an AI tool that removes manual work so our underwriting can focus on the decision.”
Results: Faster underwriting and a better borrower experience
With Ocrolus automating document classification and income analysis, Volo Loans significantly accelerated underwriting while creating a more scalable and cost-efficient operating model.
Income and document review that once took up to eight hours can now be completed in less than one hour, saving an average of five to six hours per loan file.
“The way we operate today is completely different,” Smith said. “Our underwriter can focus on the decision instead of spending time organizing files.”
The efficiency gains have reduced downstream friction, improved the borrower experience and allowed Volo Loans to stay lean and scale through market cycles.
Benefits include:
- Five to six hours saved per loan file on average
- Income and document review were reduced from up to eight hours to less than one hour
- Up to 50% anticipated reduction in underwriting touchpoints per loan
- Improved borrower experience through faster reviews and fewer follow-ups
- Scalable growth supported with existing resources
Why Volo Loans recommends Ocrolus
For Volo Loans, Ocrolus is a trusted partner that improves efficiency while preserving underwriting control and a strong borrower experience.
“It fits the way we underwrite,” Smith said. “It gives us the structure and automation we need without taking decision-making out of our hands.”
Smith also pointed to Ocrolus’ partnership-driven approach and consistent support.
“They took the time to understand our business and support us through onboarding and beyond,” he said.
As Volo Loans prepares for future growth, Ocrolus provides confidence the team can handle increasing volume while remaining organized and responsive.
“It helps us work smarter and deliver a better experience for our borrowers,” Smith said.
“When I think of Ocrolus, I think of an octopus. It feels like our underwriting has extra tentacles, allowing us to do more and work more efficiently.”
Nate Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Volo Loans
