Digital lending platform Blend announced this week it is moving beyond the realm of mortgagetech, broadening its focus to a wider array of consumer banking tools.
The San Francisco-based company now offers a new set of configuration capabilities that help banks dynamically respond to changing consumer needs by going to market faster with new products. New capabilities include out-of-the-box offerings for credit cards, personal loans, auto and specialty vehicle loans, home equity, and deposit accounts. Three of those products– personal loans, credit cards, and specialty vehicles– are new for Blend.
This news comes shortly after the company closed a $75 million round of funding, boosting its valuation to $1.7 billion.
“We want to enable banks and financial institutions to be there as trusted advisors for every financial milestone and to keep up with constantly changing consumer expectations and market dynamics. Blend will help lenders deliver the right product at the right time and with no friction,” said Nima Ghamsari, co-founder and CEO of Blend. “With our unified platform, our partners are able to accelerate digital innovation across every line of business.”
Blend’s no-code platform provides banks with a component library, product templates, no-code drag-and-drop workflows, integrated data services, and control over design elements. The added capabilities will help banks meet the needs of their consumers– from opening a new account to applying for a loan.
The out-of-the-box nature of Blend’s products was key for M&T Bank, which needed a quick-to-market solution for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program. “We needed to help them process more loans in a few hours… than we had done in a full year,” said Chris Kay, executive vice president of Consumer Banking, Business Banking and Marketing. “By partnering with Blend, we were able to move quickly and be there for our customers when they needed it the most — spinning up a new digital product to process these loans in just 72 hours. Thanks in large part to Blend’s platform, 100 percent of our customers were able to receive the essential funds that could help their businesses survive.”
Blend’s Digital Lending Platform is used by M&T Bank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and 250+ other financial services companies. Founded in 2012, the company helps these banks process more than $3.5 billion in mortgages and consumer loans each day.
Photo by BENCE BOROS on Unsplash