American Banker | Hendricks County Bank cuts loan underwriting time in half
In the heart of Central Indiana, Hendricks County Bank and Trust has successfully halved the time it takes for the bank’s loan officers to underwrite loan applications for its small-business customers.
The $230 million-asset community bank pulled this off thanks to partnering with Abrigo, a banking software company. Abrigo launched its community lending software in 2023, and Hendricks County Bank was one of the platform’s earliest users.
“We had a contract with Abrigo dating back to 2019 where we used just the credit analyst module as a part of their full suite, and we liked it a lot,” Hendricks County Bank credit analyst Colin Hinkle told American Banker. “It really helped us with determining credit worthiness and things like that. We were then invited to be a part of the beta testing program for Abrigo Community Lending, and we really liked what we saw. We thought it was very competitive both price-wise and from a product offering standpoint.”
“We did a bunch of surveying and 70% of our customers said the number one thing they were looking for was a simple, easy to use loan origination system,” Abrigo Chief Marketing Officer Laura Broderick told American Banker. “It really sparked the idea of adjusting our more complex loan origination system that larger banks use, taking the best of that and then simplifying it to create Abrigo Community Lending.”
The adjustment involved simplifying the platform and making it more user friendly, according to Ravi Nemalikanti, Abrigo’s chief product and technology officer.
“It doesn’t need all the bells and whistles and the complex intricacies of what a full commercial loan origination might bring,” Nemalikanti said.
Simplifying the platform allows community bank loan officers to fill out and submit loan applications on behalf of their clients more quickly.
“If I were a loan officer meeting someone for lunch, I could complete the loan application between the time I order and when my food arrives,” Hinkle said.
Hendricks County Bank fully switched over to the Abrigo Community Lending platform within a single weekend.
“The update happened on a Saturday and we personally did not experience any service interruptions at all,” Hinkle said. “If there was any downtime, we were closed anyway.”
Switching from one platform to another is always an adjustment, but Hinkle praised the transition process as “seamless.”
“With all software implementations you have to rip the Band-Aid off at some point,” Hinkle said. “I wanted to make sure we had essentially zero downtime. I know that’s unheard of, especially in fintech, but our lenders and our underwriting staff were immediately able to just continue doing what they do — just in a different spot. I use the word seamless sparingly, but it seriously was.”
Abrigo’s approach to serving its community bank clients is another factor in Hinkle’s confidence with the partnership.
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To see the full article, visit American Banker, “Hendricks County Bank cuts loan underwriting time in half.”
