MeridianLink and Zest AI Expand Partnership, Accelerating Market Momentum and Enabling Financial Institutions to Drive More Inclusive Lending Practices

By: MeridianLink, Inc. via Business Wire

May 08, 2023 at 09:05 AM EDT

Combined strength of consumer lending with AI-enabled underwriting empowers lenders to efficiently and confidently approve more loans, creating more economic opportunities for consumers

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE: MLNK), a leading provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions, together with Zest AI, a leader in automating underwriting with more accurate and inclusive lending insights, today announced the expansion of their partnership, increasing momentum as the integration enables more shared customers with access to AI-enabled underwriting. The partnership allows banks and credit unions to provide faster decisioning while safely offering credit access to more consumers.

Since the partnership between Zest and MeridianLink^®was first announced, customers have benefited from AI-enabled underwriting and more accurate consumer risk insights to accelerate decisioning and deliver more equitable lending experiences.

“We are always looking for ways to provide our members with fast and fair access to capital,” said Miriam Mitchell, chief lending officer at Addition Financial. “Since integrating Zest AI as part of our MeridianLink^® Consumer offering, we have seen a sustained increase in approval rates on loans. This gives us the ability to say yes more often to members across the credit spectrum.”

On average, Zest AI customers see a 25% lift in approval rates without increasing losses, as well as increases in booked loans due to more competitive, risk-based pricing. AI technology can safely increase approval rates for those who are traditionally underserved. With Zest AI’s technology, lenders can lift protected class approvals by an average of 40%.

“As financial institutions embrace MeridianLink’s increasingly touchless and inclusive lending capabilities, our customers are adopting Zest’s fair lending insights as part of our decisioning workflow in evaluating the creditworthiness of consumers in the communities they serve,” said Megan Pulliam, SVP of MeridianLink’s Partner Marketplace. “We are proud to be a market leader of this movement and will continue to work closely with Zest to identify opportunities to accelerate digital lending innovation.”

“We’re pleased our partnership with MeridianLink continues to grow with our combined focus to offer more lenders access to AI-enabled lending, resulting in faster approvals, more loan bookings, and happier consumers,” said Head of Strategic Initiatives at Zest AI, Kathryn Bonesteel. “Our shared customers appreciate how easy it is to take advantage of Zest’s capabilities within the MeridianLink^® One platform, and we are excited to invest in the ongoing success of this strategic relationship.”

To learn more, visit https://www.meridianlink.com/marketplace/partners.

About Zest AI

Zest AI is a tech company on a mission to make fair and transparent credit accessible for everyone. Since 2009, we've worked with financial institutions to provide AI-driven credit solutions to their borrowers. Today we work with all types of lenders — but especially credit unions — to democratize underwriting automation and equitable credit decisioning. Learn more at Zest.ai and connect with us on LinkedIn.

About MeridianLink

MeridianLink^® (NYSE: MLNK) powers digital lending and account opening for financial institutions and provides data verification solutions for consumer reporting agencies. MeridianLink’s scalable, cloud-based platforms help customers build deeper relationships with consumers through data-driven, personalized experiences across the entire lending life cycle.

MeridianLink enables customers to accelerate revenue growth, reduce risk, and exceed consumer expectations through seamless digital experiences. Its partner marketplace supports hundreds of integrations for tailored innovation. For more than 20 years, MeridianLink has prioritized the democratization of lending for consumers, businesses, and communities. Learn more at www.meridianlink.com.