Large financial institutions have often shied away from small-business borrowers, said Arun Kumar, head of small-business banking at the Bank of Montreal. Toronto-Dominion Bank acquired Layer 6 AI in January and Scotiabank teamed up with Kabbage in 2016 to allow customers to apply for small business loans using the fintech startup’s platform. For credit unions, partnerships are a way leverage AI they could otherwise not afford. Lendified does so for a monthly fee to credit unions including Vancity, on top of offering direct loans of up to $150,000. It also doled out a $1.75-million grant to encourage credit unions to buy into fintech software and increase loans to small businesses.

Source: thestar November 11, 2018 17:26 UTC