Startup facilitates more inclusive, accessible financing achieved through more complete data and AI-based decisioning
Artis Technologies announced the launch of its embedded financial services platform for digital, point-of-need lending and payments. The technology is a response to the ongoing structural shift in how consumers, businesses and lenders interact, and to the industry’s call for creative, well-structured financing.
Simple, modern, mindful financing is what consumers need now more than ever. #heyartis can you help? New #fintech makes #lending more inclusive & accessible #pointofneed
Artis is applying alternative data points within the context of financial data regulations to create a platform that can deliver innovative loan solutions appropriately tailored to each individual borrower. The company has extended the value of traditional scoring models with behavioral data sources to have each loan request decisioned through AI- and machine learning-optimized policies and workflows. Loan requests are sourced with intent and based only on the most relevant criteria. Borrowers are given multiple, unbiased financing offers at their moment of need – presented by their local merchant on the spot.
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Barclay Keith, CEO of Artis Technologies, explained, “Consumer lending is overdue for a major upgrade. The human element of it – the borrower’s need – is largely lost in impersonal, clunky processes. At Artis, we set out to build a platform that facilitates more inclusive, accessible financing in real time. Not only are we simplifying and streamlining the consumer experience, but also providing merchants an opportunity to grow their business as well as helping preserve the role of financial institutions to fulfill these loans.”
Artis is curating a network of approved merchants to spend with while also establishing a community of financial institutions willing and ready to finance these needs. This approach provides lenders access to turnkey lending rails and enables them to quickly scale and diversify their portfolios with minimized risk. Diverse policy engines and customizable portfolio attributes allow them to be specific and strategic about distributing their assets.
During this time of uncertainty, consumers will be in need of credit that comes from trusted financial institutions at reasonable rates; however, many banks are not prepared to meet those needs with their current product offerings. While financial institutions are doing what they can to keep employees and customers safe and informed, building new products to meet an expected surge in demand will be difficult. Through a partnership with Artis, financial institutions not only can meet the borrowing needs of consumers, but can also equip their small business customers with digital tools to drive demand for their services.
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Charles Potts, senior vice president and chief innovation officer of Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), met the Artis team as an advisor for the Atlanta-based fintech accelerator program ATDC. He commented, “Artis is part of a new class of fintech – one that is more about forging better relationships and generating meaningful opportunities, not simply making transactions faster. Their approach gives financial institutions a way to participate in point-of-need financing and compete in a crowded consumer loan market.”
Those merchants partnered with Artis are given a digital self-service portal to run their business. Artis enables merchants to be a point of instant financing and to benefit from improved cash conversion cycles thanks to real-time transacting from the consumer. The platform hosts a closed-loop payment network to ensure the borrower can spend loan funds only with the merchant that extended the loan application.
Having just launched, Artis has opened a Series A round of funding. Funds will be used to continue the company’s growth for a faster go-to-market strategy as well as fuel customer and merchant support and market expansion.
Brad Friedlander, a finance entrepreneur and co-founder of Angel Oak Capital Advisors, who will serve as Artis’ founding Chairman, said, “Artis is providing a simpler, faster consumer loan experience that eliminates friction and produces results. This team is a unique blend of skill sets and personalities, and together strike the perfect balance of a motivated startup with tangible problems to solve.”
Brian Lanehart, president of Artis Technologies, added, “We’re in the business of building technology that will do good. Our mission is to make consumer lending easy and friendly without compromising on the tenants of compliance, security, risk and cost. Our merchants and lenders will have full visibility into the loan process, empowering them to provide innovative loan products specific to the borrower’s need.”
