A bridging loan application is usually assessed by someone working for the lender, but in theory, artificial intelligence could be used as an assessor. This means that using data from previous loan applications, software algorithms could make loan decisions. Automated underwriting could speed up the loan application process, but bridging loans can be high-risk agreements, and as yet, automatic underwriting is not as efficient as human underwriters. There is too much of a chance that the automated underwriter will make a bad decision on a high risk loan and this will be an expensive mistake for the lender. In November 2017, BridgingAndCommercial.co.uk explored the differences between human-controlled and automated underwriting. It noted that although bridging finance lenders and brokers do use some automation to speed up the loan application process, the final decision about a loan is still made by a human. The main reasons for using automated systems is to speed up the loan process, but at the moment there are more cons than pros for automated underwriting, so most lenders and brokers cannot risk leaving loan decisions to automated systems. Often, assessors look at a loan that at first sight looks too risky, but when examining the details of the loan, it may be approved. Many bridging loan applications are complex, and experienced brokers are able to weigh up all the factors in order to find the best lender for a particular application. It could be that with more advanced artificial intelligence systems, automated underwriting could help make decisions for low-risk loans, but until then, a broker and bridging finance lender will use human expertise to make loan decisions.
May 10, 2022
