Card Solutions for Lendtech: Podcast Episode 23

Lending companies are constantly seeking innovative ways to streamline their processes and enhance customer satisfaction. One powerful tool emerging at the forefront of this transformation is the strategic integration of card solutions. But how can these solutions truly revolutionize the lending experience?

Listen to our podcast episode or read about our solutions for Lendtech, and discover how loan companies can modernize their loan disbursement process and elevate their customer journey.

Welcome to The Deep Dive. Today, we're really zeroing in on something big for lending companies. It's about modernizing how you get loans out the door and really boosting that customer experience using card issuing solutions. I mean, many people listening probably know the pain, right? Slow, kind of clunky, disbursement methods.

It's inefficient for the company, sure, but it's also a real headache for customers. - That's absolutely right. And customer expectations, they've shifted. Borrowers now, they want speed, convenience, flexibility is key, sticking with those old ways.

It doesn't just hurt satisfaction, it can genuinely put you behind the competition. - Exactly. And who better to walk us through this than someone from Verestro? You guys are really at the forefront of this fintech stuff. 

- Hey, thanks for having me. Yeah, happy to be here and share a bit about how we're helping lenders make that shift. - Great. So our main goal here today, and this is crucial for any lender looking to, you know, really thrive, not just get by.

How can bringing card issuance right into your lending platform give you that edge, make things better for borrowers and streamline your own operations? Let's maybe start with the vision. What was that forward thinking lender trying to achieve? - Right, so this particular company, they saw this fundamental need to improve the whole customer journey. And it started right at disbursement. - Okay.

- Their idea wasn't just about speed, though, that was important. It was about giving customers a genuinely useful, flexible financial tool, like, right in their pocket. They knew that immediate access and easy money management, well, that's just table stakes today. - So thinking bigger than just the loan itself, more about ongoing usefulness? - Exactly.

They pictured a scenario where boom, you're loan to prove the money's there instantly, and you can spend it just like any other money in your digital wallet, super easy. That kind of thinking led them to look at modern options. And yeah, that's how they ended up partnering with us at Verrestro. They went for our white label mobile app, the one with card issuance baked right in.

- Okay, that clearly lays out the ambition. But turning that vision into reality, I bet there were some bumps in the road. Integrating something new like this, it's never totally straightforward, is it? - You're spot on there. Yeah, they hit a few key hurdles.

And honestly, these are pretty common in the lending world. A big one was legacy systems integration. - Ah, the classic. - Totally.

They're existing core systems built up over years. They just weren't designed to plug and play with a modern platform like ours. Getting those different systems, talking smoothly, sharing data, automating processes, that took some real careful work. It's kind of like trying to connect pipes that weren't meant to fit together.

You need the right adapters. - Makes perfect sense. You can't build a sleek front end experience if the back end plumbing is creaking, right? What else were they up against? - Well, another critical piece was just the raw speed and efficiency of loan disbursement. The old ways were just too slow.

People expect things instantly now. - Yeah, waiting days feels arcade. - Exactly. Bar-Ours need that money almost the second it's approved.

And that delay, it wasn't just annoying for them. It meant more calls, more queries for the support team. - Right, where's my money call? - Precisely. Then there's the whole customer experience side of things.

They really wanted a slick, intuitive mobile app packed with useful features. - Okay. - So that meant thinking hard about the UI that look and feel in the UX, how easy and frankly pleasant it is to use. Every single step from logging in the first time to managing your card, it all had to feel effortless.

- So it's not just about being fast, but about making people feel comfortable and like, in control. - Exactly that, empowered. And a huge part of that was the card issuance and management. You know, actually getting the capability to issue virtual cards for instant online use and physical cards right there in the app.

That adds complexity. - Yeah, I do. - You've got regulatory hoops to jump through, technical links to card processors, managing the whole card lifecycle. It's definitely a layer.

- The red tape around handling financial stuff like cards must be pretty intense. Any other major considerations keeping them up at night? - Oh definitely, security and compliance. These were like absolute must-haves, non-negotiable. - Of course.

- You're handling super sensitive financial data, personal info. - I do. - So you need top tier security, plus stricter adherence to rules like KYC-AML, know your customer, anti-money laundering, basically proving who people are and stopping bad actors. And GDPR for data privacy, naturally, protecting customer trust is everything.

- Foundational, really. - Totally. And beyond that, they also have to think about scalability. They needed a platform that wouldn't just keel over if their loan volume suddenly doubled or tripled.

It had to handle growth smoothly. - Future-proofing. - Right. - Let's be real, cost effectiveness matters too.

They needed a solution that made financial sense to implement and run while still giving them all the features they needed. - So that classic balancing act, innovate, but keep it practical. - Exactly. Oh and one more thing, customization and branding.

Even using a white label solution, it was vital the app looked and felt like their brand, you know, consistent experience for their borrowers. - Okay, wow, that's quite a list of challenges. So let's pivot to the solution. - How did Verestro's white label mobile app, the one with the card issuing, actually help them tackle all of that? - Right, so our platform, it's really designed specifically to address these kinds of lentech challenges.

The fact that it's a pre-built e-wallet gives it a massive head start. - Okay, so not starting from scratch. - Not at all. It comes loaded with a whole suite of core functions right out of the box.

Things like secure sign-up and login, built in KYC checks, account management tools, transaction histories, car controls, freezing cards, setting limits, even stuff like P2P transfers between users, having that solid base just speeds up the whole process massively, gets you to market way faster. - You have less development time needed upfront. - Exactly. And then there's the seamless card issuance part.

We've already got the connection sorted with various card issuers. This makes it much simpler for the lending company to offer their own branded cards, both virtual and physical. - Takes a layer of complexity off their plate then? What about connecting to those tricky legacy systems you mentioned earlier, that big hurdle? - Yeah, that's where our robust API framework comes in. Think of APIs as like digital messengers that let different software systems chat securely.

Ars are built to connect smoothly with core lending systems. This allows for things like automated loan payouts and real time updates of account balances, transactions, that kind of stuff. That was absolutely key for hitting those speed and efficiency goals. - Okay, and what about the look and feel of the customer experience keeping their brand consistent? - Yeah, our customizable UIUX setup lets them tailor the apps appearance and how users move through it so it perfectly matches their brand identity.

This makes sure borrowers get that familiar consistent feel. - Nice. - And on the crucial security and compliance front, our platform is built to meet the highest industry standards. We use strong encryption robust security measures to protect all that sensitive data and we ensure it complies with all the relevant financial regulations.

- That's definitely a piece of mind for any lender looking at this. And scalability, were they covered for future growth? - Absolutely, the whole thing's built on a highly scalable architecture. It's designed from the ground up to handle more users, more transactions as the business grows without performance taking a hit. - Sounds incredibly comprehensive.

So the proof is in the putting right. What were the actual results? What tangible impact did this Verestro partnership have for that lending company? Oh, the results were really clear and honestly quite transformative for them. First off, they got faster and more efficient loan disbursements. Big time.

- Like how much faster? - We're talking funding times cut dramatically, minutes, often, instead of days. This directly led to a big jump in customer satisfaction scores. And naturally, it cut down their internal operational costs to less manual work and fewer follow-up calls. Imagine the difference where a customer gets funds almost instantly.

- Yeah, that's huge. That alone is a massive competitive edge. Happier customers, lower costs, win, win. - Definitely.

Second, the enhanced customer experience really shown through. The app was easy to use, the card integration was smooth. It just made everything simpler for borrowers, accessing funds, managing them, it was all seamless. - Which probably leads to more interaction.

- Exactly. We saw increased customer engagement. Because the e-wall had genuinely useful features, borrowers started using their digital channels more often. It wasn't just about the loan anymore.

- It builds that relationship, makes it stickier. - Precisely. We also saw a clear, improved operational efficiency, automating the disbursement process. That freed up their team's time to work on more valuable strategic things.

And really importantly, for the long run, this whole modern customer first approach significantly strengthens their brand loyalty. People stick with companies that make their lives easier. - It really does sound like a game changer. Okay, so for the lending companies listening in today, maybe thinking about their own systems, what are the main takeaways here? What should they learn from the success story? - I think the biggest takeaway is just how valuable, integrating a modern e-wallet, especially one with card issuing built-in can be.

It's not just nice to have, it can fundamentally modernize your operations and drastically improve your customer's financial lives. This example really shows how our solutions at Barrestro can help lend techs navigate those tricky tech and regulatory challenges, streamline their critical processes, and ultimately give their borrowers a really powerful, convenient financial tool that just fits naturally into how they live today. - That's a powerful message. So if there's a lender listening right now, and this is resonating, they're thinking, yes, this is what our customers need, this is where we need to go.

- Yeah. - What's the practical next step for them? - It's pretty straightforward actually. If you're a lending company and you're serious about modernizing how you disburse loans, really stepping up your customer experience, and you're curious about launching your own branded cards, then just reach out to us at Barrestro. Our team is ready to chat.

We can talk about your specific situation, understand the challenges you're facing, and show you exactly how our solutions could help you hit your goals and really build strong customer relationships. - Fantastic. Well, this has been incredibly insightful, a real deep dive into how powerful, integrated card issuing can be for lenders. Thanks so much for sharing all your expertise today.

- It was my pleasure. Thanks for having me. And thank you for joining us for this edition of the Deep Dive. We really hope this gave you some valuable food for thought on how you can innovate and serve your customers even better in this constantly changing lending world.