A Chicago technology company that enables banks to make small-business loans online got an endorsement Monday from the American Bankers Association.
The privately held Akouba will offer its origination and underwriting platform to ABA-member banks, which will receive preferred pricing, according to a press release announcing the agreement.
The deal is designed to give smaller banks a better chance of competing with marketplace lenders. Participating banks will establish their own credit policies, and the online loan application process will carry each bank’s own branding.
“The small-business loan application process is very time-sensitive and costly for banks, and there is a need to simplify and accelerate the process,” Bryan Luke, a Hawaii banker who is chairman of an ABA advisory council, said in the release.
Akouba
The ABA selected Akouba following what the trade group described as an extensive due diligence process. ABA spokesman John Hall said in an email that more such announcements are in the pipeline.
