Small business owners have never needed more help and chances are, if you’re setting up a small business or hoping to expand your existing business, you’ll need to apply for a small business loan to get your latest idea off the ground. Thankfully, lenders today are working hard to improve the borrowing experience for small business owners and technology is making it easier than ever.
AI
Artificial intelligence is significantly improving small business loans on a fundamental level by cutting through the grunt work and streamlining the entire process. The way AI can process existing data means it can be used to dramatically increase the speed of reliability and credit assessment checks, doing in seconds what used to take a manual worker several hours.
It also allows lenders to make immediate loan personalization changes that are tailored to the needs and financial limitations of the customer. This same tech can also be used to perfect customer service operations, with customers able to use chatbots to sort out more commonly asked queries before being automatically redirected to a live agent if the need should arise.
Security
Technology has made borrowing more secure with cybersecurity tech able to shut the door to those risks. Of course, there are always going to be risks associated with digital finance, but protocols have been put in place that protect client data against hackers. Thanks to advancements in ideas such as two-factor authentication and blockchain, your data has never been more secure from nefarious entities and things are only getting better in that regard.
Management
Technology makes it easier for small business owners to manage their finances, with advances in fintech allowing small business owners to connect their accounts from multiple financial firms all in one place. The freedom offered by open banking allows for this in a way that wouldn’t have been possible even a few years ago.
Technology has made the business loan application process faster and easier too as information about applicants can be found online in seconds. This has also made the application verification process much faster, so you could technically be applying for a loan today and seeing the funds deposited into your account tomorrow.
Cost
Above all else, of course, technology reduces costs for lenders and those savings can and will be passed onto the customer. With interest rates rising at an exponential rate, those savings could very well make the crucial difference between profitability and bankruptcy. It’s also never been easier for those from disadvantaged areas to access the internet and apply for funding, meaning more diverse and exciting opportunities are being explored that might otherwise have never even gotten off the ground.