Loan origination systems driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming table stakes among U.S. lenders.

Ninety percent of lenders plan to increase their investment during the next five years, according to a survey released last week of 216 U.S. banks, credit unions and financial technology providers conducted this year by Brighterion, a unit of MasterCard, and lending and digital banking events company LendIt Fintech. Sixty percent of the responding lenders said they currently employ AI in loan originations and 42% use it in client credit risk monitoring, according to the survey.

The survey also found:

• 70% plan to use AI in future loan origination, while 76% want to use it for credit-risk monitoring;
• 79% use rules-based systems for credit risk management;
• Regulatory requirements are a primary driver for 46% in adopting AI technology in credit risk monitoring; and
• 80% rely on credit bureau scores for loan decisioning.

More than 90% of fraudsters ace user authentication questions

Knowledge-based authentication questions used for automated account access may no longer be effective.

These questions are no match for shrewd fraudsters, who beat such protections up to 92% of the time, a recent report from Pindrop Security has found.

Data breaches and dark web information availability are to blame, according to the Atlanta-based provider of voice recognition technology for fraud detection. The company examined three of its customers’ use of knowledge-based authentication question over three months.

At one institution, fraudsters passed knowledge-based question barriers 92% of the time, while actual customers correctly answered the questions only about 48% of the time. However, at the other two institutions, fraudsters were about half as successful as real clients at passing knowledge-based questions.

While they only provide a limited glimpse, the findings expose weaknesses of knowledge-based authentication and the difficulties customers have with the method, according to Pindrop.

The company was founded in 2011 and has raised $219.6 million over six funding rounds, according to Crunchbase.

Social media, digital content part of nearly 70% of estate plans

What will become of someone’s Facebook account when they pass away? Reflecting increased interest in and use of digital content and tools like social media and other web-based apps, nearly 70% of estate planners are incorporating such considerations for their clients, according to a TD Wealth survey released last week.

TD Wealth is the wealth management and investment banking affiliate of $452.1 billion TD Bank, part of Toronto-based TD Group.

Among clients who address digital content in their estate planning, 71% are folding in blogs, email and social media accounts into their plans, according to the survey. These respondents are also “exploring” digital wealth-planning tools, though the study did not quantify at what rate.

TD’s fourth annual survey queried 142 estate planners, estate planning attorneys, trust officers, charitable giving professionals, wealth management professionals and others. More than eight out of 10 estate planning professionals said they use digital tools of some kind in their work, according to the survey.