Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs) serve as major sources of consumer and commercial loans for low-income individuals and minority groups; however, a lack of automation continues to plague some of these financial institutions and hinder the delivery of loans.  

CDFIs deliver at least 60% of their total lending, services and other activities in low-income communities, according to the FDIC. MDIs originate a greater share of mortgages to borrowers in low- and moderate-income areas and with larger shares of minority populations than non-MDIs.  

In today’s episode of “The Buzz,” hear Bryan DeShasier, managing director of product and process at digital mortgage platform Promontory MortgagePath, discusses this lack to automation at these particular types of financial institutions. Promontory’s solution provides comprehensive fulfillment services and compliance support for them.  

When technology is used at CDFIs and MDIs, it is often older, meaning that the lending process is fraught with lengthy manual processes and extended turn times for loans. Better automation means the lenders can scale up operations quickly, although many have few loan officers in place.  

In this Bank Automation News podcast, DeShasier and Carrie Mumma, director, manager of client relationships at Promontory MortgagePath, address the opportunities and challenges of rolling out the fintech’s new initiative for CDFIs and MDIs and the value proposition automation offers.  

While automation does speed loan closures, there remain hurdles to implementation that are similar among all banks. Changing the culture and habits of the employees of any financial institution can be difficult and does take time, said Mumma.