Happen Bank is using AI across roughly 60 use cases, with the technology’s greatest value coming from exposing operational friction that had previously gone undetected. 

The digital bank has embedded AI throughout marketing, compliance, design, fraud, software development and its call center, Chief Executive Scott Sanborn told FinAi News. 

Most uses of the tech remain internal, Sanborn said, adding that, the call center rollout has delivered outsized returns by giving the company granular insight into why customers reach out. 

“We now know the exact reason for every call,” Sanborn said. “We’re just finding customer friction areas that were below the surface before, and we’re able to just eliminate them.” 

For example, an email regarding late payments sent to 400 bank clients resulted in 237 calls to the call center, Sanborn said. Without AI, that information would have remained undiscovered since the calls would have been dispersed among call center representatives. 

Using AI to flag patterns and fix upstream issues is reducing call center volume and is expected to lift customer satisfaction scores, Sanborn said. 

AI wins 

The bank’s marketing team department has also seen a significant return on investment. For example, it is producing 50% more content by using AI, Sanborn said. 

Additionally, AI is deployed in backend operations and has been the clearest win of AI deployment at Happen Bank, he said. 

Happen Bank reported a record-low production cost per issued personal loan in the first quarter, with more than 90% of loan issuance fully automated and application submission time cut by nearly 60%, according to the company’s Q1 earnings report. 

Loan originations grew 31% in Q1 to $2.7 billion without corresponding headcount growth, he said. 

Happen Bank which announced its rebrand from LendingClub in April and completed the transition in June, did not disclose AI-driven efficiency gains in its software development department or the cost of origination. 

“AI allows us to do more with the same resources,” Sanborn said. 

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