The Lending Link

Author: The Lending Link Podcast Powered by GDS Link

The Lending Link Powered by GDS Link is a podcast hosted by Rich Alterman and designed for the modern-day lender. Each episode deeply delves into innovation within the financial services industry and transformation efforts, including AI / ML integration, Modeling, Risk Management Tactics, and redefining Customer Experiences. We have a wide range of guests from various lending institutions and diverse organizations who talk about strategies, technology, and everything in between.
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Language: en

Genres: News, Tech News

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Automating small business underwriting when identity isn’t straightforward
Tuesday, 16 December, 2025

Why is underwriting small businesses so much harder than underwriting individuals? In this episode of The Lending Link, host Nathan George sits down with Michael LaSala from Baselayer to unpack one of the most persistent challenges in small business lending: verifying identity when businesses do not fit clean, predictable profiles.They discuss why matching business names, owners, and entities is much more complicated than verifying consumers. Fragmented data, thin files, and unstructured information make things harder for lenders, leading to more risk and manual reviews. Michael explains how lenders can use AI to organize messy data, identify useful behavioral signals, and better distinguish real businesses from fraud.They also talk about how automation speeds up decisions, helps more applicants finish the process, and lets underwriting teams focus on more important tasks. The conversation looks ahead to new trends like Know Your Agent and more applications, and to what lenders should do as AI continues to change small-business onboarding and credit decisions.