SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — Fountainhead Brings AI to SBA Lending

October 24, 2017

By Bob Coleman
Editor, SBA Hot Topic Tuesday

SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — Fountainhead Brings AI to SBA Lending

We have postulated for many years how technology would improve our decision-making in business and that artificial intelligence would play a role. Many of us, however, didn’t try to equate this to commercial real estate and SBA loans.

Until now.

For Chris Hurn and his team at Fountainhead Commercial Capital, artificial intelligence turned out to be the key to moving commercial real estate approvals onto a new technological plane.

Fountainhead’s proprietary system, known as Pronto, cuts by several days the company’s loan approval time. The Pronto system runs through a highly secure interface on the Fountainhead website. Borrowers or their representatives fill out key information fields and then drag-and-drop financial documents into the secure file system.

Fountainhead’s software then reads documents such as tax returns, financial statements and business debt schedules among other documents. Within a few minutes, the Pronto system reviews the files, applies the real estate transaction data to its underwriting guidelines for qualifying deals and then produces a detailed loan approval letter – auto-populating relevant numeric and alphanumeric data.

Fountainhead’s team of underwriters and credit analysts then perform a thorough yet quick review of the information before formally issuing the approval letter to the borrower – all within two hours.

“Today’s entrepreneur demands quick decisions,” says Chris. “We streamlined an historically time-consuming and arduous process so that business owners can now get fast decisions and get back to running their companies.”

According to Hurn, the most time-consuming part of the process is in the hands of borrowers who need to produce the appropriate financial documentation. Beta testers have found the system easy to use, and most completed the application process in less than 15 minutes.

“Business owners who have ready access to the financial information required for an SBA 504 or our conventional loans can literally look at a property or building in the morning and have an approval by early afternoon. It brings an immediate competitive advantage for business owners and commercial brokers. Reliable, accurate and valuable information is quickly delivered to borrowers, providing relief from loan approval anxiety.

“The new reality is that once time-consuming tasks can be completed quickly and efficiently using our evolving technology. The day will come when SBA loans will be approved and funded in matter of days,” says Chris.

Borrowers and their representatives can access Pronto at: www.Fountainhead504.com/Apply-Today.