Fresno First Bank Launches Automated Online SBA Loan App

Fresno First Bank launched their online SBA PPP Loan application with an automated BSA solution powered by DocFox, which analyzes documents and performs enhanced screening ensuring a complete application can be compiled and prepared for loan review in a matter of minutes without any manual intervention from the bank.

It is a struggle for most banks to offer online account opening or application processing for business accounts. With this in mind the prospects look bleak for the largest stimulus package in history to deliver $350 Bn through banks, with a week’s notice, to small businesses around the country. The banks need to identify their applicants, adjudicate the loan under their internal rules and then supply the application to the SBA and finally upon approval disburse the funds. All the while doing so in compliance with onerous Know Your Customer and Anti Money laundering regulations. The $350 Bn is drying up but with additional support funds expected to be announced banks need to be prepared.

This has added complexity with many of the small businesses being independent contractors without EIN numbers and inconsistent records to demonstrate payroll. PPP loans to these applicants became available on Friday allowing qualified applicants to receive a loan of up to 2.5 times their monthly payroll. These loans are crucial for the survival of many small businesses, but lenders need to ensure that all loans comply with stringent rules. This is a complex and time consuming task which can take weeks of back and forth.

Crisis often spawns innovation and in under a week Fresno First bank was able to partner with DocFox, a fintech company, to automate the loan application process all from their website. As soon as an applicant completes their online form it triggers a sequence of events, including automated document analysis and background screening. “All this ensures the bank receives a complete application removing the need for manual work and back and forth” explains DocFox CEO, Ryan Canin.

“We engaged the DocFox team several months ago in regards to helping us manage our high risk and remote customer acquisition strategies, but quickly realized their platform could be used for much more.  The user interface is amazing and really steps up our customer experience. When we saw the potential workload that was associated with the SBA PPP program, DocFox was my first call. They got us up and running in 2 days, which is lightning speed even for the fintech world, and we now have an effective and agile platform that will help our bank better navigate the future banking” explained Steve Miller, CEO of Fresno First Bank.

DocFox is used by over 150 financial institutions to automate their BSA and online account opening processes and is leveraging this experience to assist banks and credit unions to streamline their SBA loan applications.