Independent Banker - November 2020 - 46

community banks are voracious
gatherers and users of data, there's
a use for AI in nearly every area of
the bank.
Consider loan application and
processing. Community banks faced
the ultimate stress test with the
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP),
and they passed with flying colors.
Of particular note is $2 billion-asset
Cross River Bank in Fort Lee, N.J.,
which ranked third in the country in
PPP unit volume loan.
To do that, Cross River Bank
processed more than 198,000 loans,
with the average loan size coming in
" [Through AI-powered
efficiencies, we] provided
30% more mortgages to lowincome
individuals or those
living in low-income census
tracts in 2019 than in 2018. "
-Patrick Sells, Quontic Bank
at less than $33,000. " The fact [is]
that we did it at a scale that surprised
us-especially relative to much larger
banks, " says Jesse Honigberg, the
bank's senior vice president and
technology chief of staff. " Whether
it's with AI or machine learning, with
the right combination of technology
and business direction, this showed
that you can really punch above
your weight. "
For the PPP, Cross River Bank
worked with more than 30 partners,
including Divvy, Veem and Intuit, to
build a platform that could interact
with Small Business Administration
(SBA) through the Cross River APIs,
or application program interfaces.
44 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q November 2020
Integrating tech from New York
City-based fintech Ocrolus into Cross
River's technology stack provided
the capability to quickly review
bank statements, extract payroll
expenses, compare cash flow and spot
variabilities. By collaborating with
multiple partners, Cross River Bank
had the capability for origination-tofunding
visibility in its loan process.
Honigberg believes community
bankers should drive technology
discussions in collaboration with
partners. To facilitate online account
opening, for example, Cross River
Bank worked with its core and
another fintech, Mantl, to create a
new solution. " We started with the
problem that we want to be able to do
high-volume online opening deposit
products, " Honigberg says. " We
brought business partners together to
solve the problem. "
Community banks can also
improve the pricing and profitability
of their loan portfolios with the use
of AI-powered tools. As with loan
processing, there is an increasing
number of vendors eager to work
with community banks. " You don't
have to figure it out yourself. Start
simple: Collaborate with Excel files, "
Honigberg says. " There are companies
that will help you do that. Small
changes can make a big difference in
how you process things. "
THE VALUE OF PREVENTING FRAUD
Before the pandemic hit, fraud
and security were already two of
the biggest concerns for banks.
Today's increased activity online has,
unfortunately, come with increased
risk. " With the pandemic and the shift
to digital by both bank customers and
employees, it's really increased the
attack surface for cybercriminals, "
says Mike Venaccio, vice president of
bank technology solutions for UFS, a
community bank technology outfitter
located in Grafton, Wis., that's
owned by and exclusively services
community banks.
One of the most effective new
Independent Banker - November 2020

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