Expanded partnership to provide financial
institutions with smarter, simplified fraud
protection
BURBANK,
Calif., Jan. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Zest
AI, the leader in AI lending technology, today announced a
partnership with MeridianLink ®, (NYSE: MLNK), a leading
provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions.
This strategic collaboration gives MeridianLink's 2,000+ customers
access to Zest Protect, Zest AI's smarter, configurable, and
seamless AI-powered fraud detection tool, to allow for
more accurate and quicker identification and prevention of
fraudulent activity during the application process.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that consumer
fraud losses in 2023 exceeded $10 billion. Credit unions and community banks
reported a 69% surge in fraud cases across consumer
accounts, and 79% of credit unions and community banks reported
more than $500K in direct
fraud (more than any other segment).
To tackle this issue, Zest Protect offers robust layers of
protection against compromised identities, first and third-party
fraud, as well as misreported income, fully integrated
with lenders' existing fraud review processes. This
partnership allows MeridianLink customers to maintain their
application processes with confidence, providing borrowers with a
modern, speedy experience, with the goal of also significantly
reducing their fraud losses. Zest Protect is also
highly configurable and customizable, giving financial partners the
ability to finely tune the risk thresholds by fraud
type, portfolio, and more, in one unified solution.
"Zest AI has been a trusted partner delivering proven value to
our customer base, and we're excited to expand on that success with
Zest Protect to combat rising and more sophisticated
fraud in today's ever-changing lending landscape,"
said Megan Pulliam, SVP of
MeridianLink® Marketplace. "The technology will be a
game changer as it seamlessly integrates with our loan origination
system to cover all application fraud, while
streamlining automation workflows, and can be customized for our
customers by specific regions and communities."
"Fraud is an escalating challenge for lenders, and
we're hearing it directly from our more than 100 shared customers.
Every dollar lost to fraud costs financial
institutions four times that much in expenses and lost time," said
Zest AI Head of Strategic Partnerships José Valentin. "Expanding
our partnership with MeridianLink extends the reach of Zest Protect
to provide a unified solution for application fraud
with no per-application cost - so every application can be
evaluated. Our team is dedicated to staying on top of emerging
threats, making sure the tool can more accurately detect all types
of fraud, including the growing threat of AI-generated
fraud. Zest AI's growing partner network will help
more lenders outsmart complex fraud now and in the
future for quicker, more accurate decisioning."
"Zest AI has become an integral part of our lending process,
giving us the confidence to make smarter decisions while tackling
the growing issue of fraud head-on. We trust Zest AI
for its precision and reliability in underwriting and its
innovative approach to fraud detection. This
partnership between Zest AI and MeridianLink strengthens our
ability to protect our institution and members from
fraud, and we're proud to continue working together to
stay ahead of evolving threats," said Joel
Swanson, CLO, VyStar Credit Union.
About Zest AI
Zest AI is a tech company on a mission to broaden access to
equitable lending. Since 2009, we've worked with financial
institutions to use AI lending technology to better serve their
borrowers. Today, we work with all types of lenders as a catalyst
for economic equity by helping them leverage AI's potential for
good. Most recently, we were named in the Forbes Fintech 50. Learn
more at Zest AI and connect with us on LinkedIn.
About MeridianLink
MeridianLink® (NYSE: MLNK) empowers financial
institutions and consumer reporting agencies to drive efficient
growth. MeridianLink's cloud-based digital lending, account
opening, background screening, and data verification solutions
leverage shared intelligence from a unified data platform,
MeridianLink® One, to enable customers of all sizes to identify
growth opportunities, effectively scale up, and support compliance
efforts, all while powering an enhanced experience for staff and
consumers alike.
For more than 25 years, MeridianLink has prioritized the
democratization of lending for consumers, businesses, and
communities. Learn more at www.meridianlink.com.
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SOURCE Zest AI