Eastern Bank, a New England Council member, recently announced the debut of a new product that will allow its business customers to be approved for loans up to $100,000 in as little as five minutes. The product, known as an express business loan, is the first to be released by the bank’s two-year-old technology incubator, Eastern Labs.
The technology behind the express business loan uses existing customers’ past transaction data that the bank already has on file, as well as publicly accessible business data to make a loan decision. This use of preexisting data allows the bank to make a decision in just minutes, rather than days or weeks, as has traditionally been the case. If a loan application is initially rejected, customers will still be able to apply for a more traditional loan. Eastern plans to offer the product to new customers soon, and is also exploring the possibility of licensing the technology to other banks around the country.
“There is no other bank in the country that has this process,” said Dan O’Malley, the head of Eastern Labs. “Our bankers are excited to call customers up.”
Founded in 1818, Eastern Bank is the largest and oldest mutual bank in the country. The New England Council applauds Eastern’s commitment to innovation in banking.