Lendio Prepares to Automate Document Gathering for Borrowers

Online small business lender Lendio is asking its borrowers to dish on the dismal job of gathering documents for a loan. The survey was sent to Lendio customers yesterday.

Salt Lake City-based Lendio works with banks to acquire more customers. Its system looks and acts like a personal financial management tool for lending to small businesses.

The survey acknowledges that gathering documents, while a necessary part of the loan process, can be painful. In an effort to “remove inefficiencies in the application process,” Lendio wants to know what part of the document-gathering stings the most. The effort is likely part of a broader initiative to move to a more automated workflow.

One survey question asks how difficult it would be for borrowers to produce their last six months of bank statements. A follow-up question asks how borrowers would view a tool that allows lenders to pull the six months of statements without the borrower needing to do anything but give permission.

Other questions ask for details about the borrower’s accounting system. The likely motive of this is to look at how well Lendio can interface with those systems in order to retrieve information.

All signs point to a more automated digital workflow for Lendio’s borrowers in the near future. This will be welcome news to business owners that have taken time away from running their businesses to dig up and pass along documents, whether by FTP, email or fax.

Lendio did not respond to a request for more information on the survey.