How lenders can mitigate risks and find growth in the new environment

The events of the first half of 2020 have given commercial lenders the enormous responsibility of being the catalyst for helping to create greater economic stability. With the release of urgent stimulus programs, lenders must be nimble enough to make financing available to businesses that need it to keep their heads above water while they handle the COVID-19 “pause” to our economy. But at the same time, it is crucial for lenders to carefully mitigate risks and maintain strong lending practices to protect their organization so that they can continue to lend in a more uncertain world.

We will discuss how commercial lenders can:

• Become nimbler in the face of sudden shifts in the lending landscape while at the same time maintaining solid practices, which protect the lender, borrowers and other key stakeholders
• Improve their ability to mitigate worsening fraud trends by way of best practices in vetting potential borrowers, identifying underlying risks to their lien portfolio and adjusting their liens to safeguard their interests. And for lenders with vehicle titling issues due to closed DMVs, helping ensure vehicles are titled and liens on those assets are established
• Strengthen defenses against the economic downturn by initiating better ways to assess the borrower’s situation over time and the changing risk for the lender
• Pivot to create new policies and procedures to manage existing and new loans
• Initiate more automation and integration that can reduce cost and increase efficiency