Commercial lending has lagged behind other bank processes in terms of digitalization.  

AI-driven commercial lending accelerator Vine Financial Chief Executive David Eads told Bank Automation News that commercial lending is “ripe for streamlining” due to its high dollar value, high risk and high profitability. 

Vine is doing just that by streamlining the commercial lending process, he said. 

The $556.8 million Crest Savings Bank, for one, is using Vine to enhance underwriting, automate key reports and boost communication and efficiency, Ed Savino, senior vice president and chief lending officer at the bank, said in a Sept. 23 release. 

Vine clients, including Wildwood, New Jersey-based Crest Savings Bank, can realize time savings and error reduction by eliminating manual processes using its technology, Eads said. 

Vine’s document reading technology, for example, allows credit analysts to spend more time on higher value functions, Eads said. 

Manual entry allows error to creep into a bank portfolio, Eads said. “If you have software that is configured to use the right value, then you avoid those mistakes.” 

Crest Savings Bank has steadily improved its efficiency since the first quarter of 2024, according to BAN’s Efficiency Ratio Dashboard. As of Q4 2024, its efficiency ratio clocked in at 92.4%, down from 99.8%. 

Quantifiable returns

Bank clients have reported that Vine’s technology helps them streamline document analysis, credit presentation or credit review process from one week to 90 minutes, Eads said. Those minutes are now used to understand the structure of the deal, he added. 

Additionally, the technology is consistently resulting in seeing a 3X to 4X increase in an employee’s ability to review and underwrite loans as manual processes have been automated, he said. 

Vine’s clients include $227 million HSLC and $224 million Triad Bank, according to BAN’s Transactions Database. 

Check out our exclusive new bank industry data here.