Appian Helps Banks Automate Lending for the UK CBILS and Prepare for the CLBILS

Low-Code Automation Platform enables banks to respond faster and offer financial support to businesses

Appian announced an application built on its Low-Code Automation Platform to support accredited lenders across the UK to manage the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) applications from businesses, as well as the anticipated Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS). The new loan application can automate and check eligibility, process and verify required supporting documents, and make lending decisions faster. Using Appian, lenders can quickly deploy advanced automation features, including RPA and AI-powered intelligent document processing.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) provides financial support to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK experiencing loss of revenue and disruption of cash flow due to COVID-19. Since the introduction of CBILS on 23 March, 2020, banks and lenders have faced unprecedented interests and applications from businesses. According to the Financial Times, banks in the UK have struggled to meet the surge in demand and only about one in 10 applications has been processed and approved so far.

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Businesses need rapid approval and access to these funds. Banks and lenders must respond with fast, efficient processes. Appian’s application supports the full lifecycle of new CBILS and CLBILS l**** through the state-backed British Business Bank (BBB), which is administering the UK scheme and working with lenders to process loan applications in batches to speed up the process:

• Digital loan application online, via mobile or email to speed up the process and reduce wait time with the option to handle applications by post or through a call center. Form can be extracted using Appian’s AI-based Intelligent Document Processing capabilities.
• Faster loan qualification, including initial assessment per BBB eligibility checklist, management and verification of supporting documents, lending qualification, and digital signature collection based on CBILS requirements.
• Intelligent Risk and Fraud Management by detecting multiple applications from the same borrower or from a nonexistent business by easily integrating with external data sources, including UK Companies House and credit scores.
• Integrate with Banking Systems, including existing bank systems of record, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), document scanning and management, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), eSignature systems, and other industry standard tools.
• Compliance reporting and auditing for easy business visibility into loan processing, as well as ongoing BBB compliance requirements. Access near real-time insights on the number of loan applications, acceptance rate, loan values, and other key indicators.

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“The CBILS and CLBILS are massive and unprecedented schemes to help businesses across the UK during this challenging time,” said Michael Heffner, VP of Global Industries. “Appian’s low-code automation platform gives accredited lenders in the UK the flexibility to build fast and adapt to these changes, whilst keeping up with growing demand. We enable banks to automate their manual and complex processes, which is critically important in this current environment of distributed workers.”

Appian will host a webinar featuring Global and UK banking experts to discuss the schemes and how they challenge banks to respond. The webinar will feature a demonstration of how Appian can automate new loan application processes for CBILS.

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