If your loan team is still using three different accounts to open just one account, it is no mystery why many banks and credit unions are turning to MeridianLink. This is a technology platform that combines origination, account opening, and decisioning into one system, and the results show themselves in terms of speed of approval, discarded applications, and the ratio of members that completed the forms.
What Does MeridianLink Actually Change for a Credit Union?
Some credit unions think that MeridianLink technology is capable of resolving only one problem, like abandoned applications or slow decision-making, but it turns out that it can be used for many issues. The case of a credit union from the Pacific Northwest is a good example, where the use of MeridianLink Access contributed to higher numbers of auto loan and credit card applications by 17% and 19%, respectively. Such impressive results are difficult to achieve through a minor change. Factually, they result from the elimination of bottlenecks in the whole process of acquiring new clients.
| Institution | What Changed? | Results |
| Pacific Northwest Credit Union | Workflow of a digital application | Data collected shows auto loans applications completed were 32% better than before |
| Southeast Credit Union | Personalization in digital journeys | New applications for deposit accounts increased by 17% |
| California Credit Union | Personalized application experience | 700% increase in digital channel engagement |
| Midwest Bank | Digital account opening | 130% increase in new accounts opened |
| 3Rivers Federal Credit Union | Automated decisioning | 40% more automated decisions, 25% more instant approvals |
Five Big MeridianLink Implementation Benefits
- Stopping Customers from Quitting Halfway Through
Lengthy and complex forms discourage applicants from finishing them. However, with this tool they will experience a new online application system. Users will be able to utilize online tools that can complete the basic information and take pictures of their identification cards. According to case studies of customers who implemented the system, the cycle of application filling was reduced from 20 minutes to 3 minutes.
- Growing Your Loan Business Automatically
Your organization will be capable of processing more loans without hiring more staff as the intelligent system allows obtaining credit information and making decisions on the go. Integrating MeridianLink for banks and credit unions will allow receiving a major volume of online applications.
- Saving Unfinished Forms So People Can Finish Later
When time is of the essence and a user needs to exit the application before they are done, the program retains their point in the application so that they do not lose anything they have already entered. The application sends a unique, safe link to either their mobile device or email, enabling them to re-open the application from virtually any device and at any time without having to re-enter any information.
- Opening New Accounts in Minutes Instead of Days
Manual verification creates additional stress for the employees who have to go through the documents and leave the customers waiting for numerous days before they can get information about the opened account. Modern technology carries out verification procedure without any delays. It allows branch offices to create accounts in a much shorter time and double the number of accounts launched every month.
- Putting All Your Banking Tools on One Screen
Buying separate software solutions for auto loans, mortgages and savings accounts results in high technology costs and confusion among staff. However, the present-day system forms an integrated system, allowing the staff to access the information needed in a single place.
How Much Faster Does Loan Processing Get After Implementation?
Every operations leader is faced with this question when it comes to signing a contract. The answer will solely depend on the degree of inefficiency linked with the current processes in place. The actual gains in this case are rarely small. For instance, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union was able to cut down the time required for applying from 2 days to 2 hours thanks to the implementation of automated decisioning and configurable workflows. During the same rollout one of the smaller credit unions reduced application time from 22 minutes to only three minutes, while a bank in the Midwest reduced the time of opening digital accounts by 50-65%. It means that now the majority of consumer accounts are opened not in days, but in just minutes.
Wes Zauner, Vice President of Product Management at MeridianLink, described how it works: “MeridianLink Access helps credit unions and community banks design and implement digital journeys that are faster, smarter, and more humane.”
What Do Real Credit Union Leaders Say About Implementation?
Case studies about best practices may sound somehow exaggerated but the aim will be to see how other organizations have handled a transition. APL Federal Credit Union says that its new member volume was around 10% higher than its previous best year in terms of member acquisition. Space Coast Credit Union has experienced an increase of instant approvals by more than 25% and an average reduction in funding times by one to two days.
The leaders of Generations Federal Credit Union beautifully put it: “It is not only about increasing speed of operations, compliance issues are also taken into consideration.” This statement should definitely be emphasized since chasing speed makes one forget all the important compliance.
Why Are Banks and Credit Unions Prioritizing This Right Now?
It is not the providers that are driving the pressures, but rather the customers and members; they expect the banking process to function like anything else on their mobile phone. A recent survey shows why: 95% of financial institutions believe they need to improve their procedures for money lending, and 48% are concentrating on automation. These numbers show that many lenders who would have had conversations about implementation in the future are now moving them to this quarter.
MeridianLink implementation benefits for credit unions is no exception in this regard, having just introduced MeridianLink Intelligence (Millie). As per Troy Coggiola, Chief Product and Strategy Officer of the company, Millie is intended to make the customer’s life easier and automate the complicated processes.
Three Steps for a Clean and Smooth System Launch
Switching your chief LOS is a major task with many components. However a solid rollout process ensures the daily activities of your branch continue without any complex customer disruptions. Certain situations of rollouts showcase that the best financial institutions pay special attention to three primary steps before performing the final activation of the software.
1. Build a Complete Process Map Early
Before you start developing new codes/changing the software rules, organize the meeting with your payment, IT, and lending leaders to specify how exactly the money lending process is done in your branch today. Identifying the problems on your way allows you to adjust the MeridianLink community bank software rules correctly from the first day so that your banking decisions are made quicker.
2. Clean Up Your Data Before Moving It
By putting old, incorrect profiles into your new system, you will get errors that will create confusion and slow down your automated decision-making operations. Old records must be cleaned up before the sync process.
3. Run Early User Acceptance Testing
Utilize your branch personnel to familiarize themselves with the new applications beforehand. Early testing provides assurance to your team and plays an important role in discovering small defects in the system.
Implementation Benefits at a Glance
- Faster Decisions – the facilitated workflow provides faster processing time of days in case studies.
- Higher Completion Rates – the autofill, save-and-resume, and dynamic forms significantly decrease abandonment rates.
- Better Member Growth – the cross-sell tools and personal offers increase both loans and deposits.
- Reduced Operational Load – employees spend less time chasing tasks and re-entering records.
- Built-in Compliance – the automated documentation and controlling systems ensure compliance.
Connecting Your Front-End Tools to the Back-End System
Bank executives care about the possibility that the launching of a new platform will disturb the existing customer services tools that have been paid for and implemented on their site. MeridianLink has come up with a solution for this problem due to its network of integration that connects perfectly with trusted online platforms, including Blend digital lending platform. Secure data channels allow the information about the borrowers to go from their first touchpoint entirely to the back-office underwriting pipeline without the need for any input on the part of the operator.
Considering that the systems are able to communicate without the involvement of human resources, borrowers will not be required to input the submitted data repeatedly. Thus, this interplay at the back end allows the lending department to save their time, ensure compliance with the relevant laws, and avoid costly mistakes with inputting data in multiple local branches.
Wrapping Up
Implementing MeridianLink is not just a matter of introducing a new technology platform; it aims to make the lending process more intelligent, quicker, and interconnected. By optimizing processes, automating work stages, improving decision-making, and decreasing the friction of applications, banks and credit unions can improve the service to their clients, while optimizing their own operational activities.
Successful implementation also guarantees compliance for the teams and enhances the precision of data. Organizations can lessen their struggles relating to the implementation by partnering with professionals who specialize in MeridianLink implementation Services at Awesome Technologies Inc. Are you also one of them? Let’s connect!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long does a MeridianLink implementation typically take?
The overall timeline will depend on the size of the organization and what number of products are being implemented at the same time. On the other hand, most organizations will start with core lending before moving to account opening and other cross-sell tools.
2. Does MeridianLink work for small community banks, not just large credit unions?
Yes. MeridianLink is applicable for financial institutions ranging from community banks to large lending organizations.
3. Will implementation disrupt day-to-day lending operations?
Most institutions usually implement a phased approach so that this issue does not arise. It ensures that the previous technologies are still being utilized until the new one is happy and running in production.
4. Is the AI automation (Millie) available now or still coming?
It is expected that the Doc Agent will be available to the public by the end of 2026.
