Zest AI Partners with WithClutch to Expand Inclusive Financing, Refinancing Options for Credit Union Members

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zest AI, the leader in expanding access to credit through better scoring and winner of NACUSO's CUSO of the Year Award, and fellow CUSO WithClutch, a technology company focused on building digital experiences for credit unions, today announced their partnership to offer fairer finance and refinance rates through credit unions.

Zest AI is a partner of the Virginia Credit Union League and its service corporation.

Through this partnership, WithClutch seamlessly enables credit unions' leverage of Zest AI's underwriting technology. Zest AI's technology is informed by broader, higher-value data tailored to individual borrowers as well as the community a credit union serves. When this data is applied to Zest AI's de-biased machine learning algorithms, credit unions see an average increase in approvals of 25 percent without increasing their risk tolerance. Zest AI's automation power also gives credit unions the ability to monitor and respond to shifts in market conditions — keeping credit unions agile and responsive to members during fluctuations in the economic cycle.

"It's extremely important in today's economic climate that financial institutions figure out every possible way to help members maximize their disposable income," said José Valentín, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at Zest AI. "Working with the Clutch team means that together we can provide members greater flexibility through fair and affordable reduced monthly payments on their loans."

Credit unions that utilize Zest AI and WithClutch's joint offering will be able to offer new options for financing and refinancing to more members, all while increasing decisioning speed and reducing friction in the member experience.

"Our goal is to turn credit unions into fintechs. The partnership with Zest AI will remove further friction from the loan application process and will bring us yet another step closer to our goal," explains Nicholas Hinrichsen, CEO, and co-founder of WithClutch. "We fell in love with what Zest AI is doing, and both our products become even better through this partnership."

Zest AI's technology helps lenders make better decisions and better loans — increasing revenue, reducing risk, and automating compliance. Since 2009, it has made fair and transparent credit available to everyone and is now the leader in technology for more inclusive underwriting. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Learn more at www.zest.ai and connect with us on Twitter at @Zest_AI or Zest AI's Insights blog.

WithClutch, Inc. is a technology company focused on building digital experiences for Credit Unions. The company was started in 2020 by serial entrepreneurs Christoper Coleman and Nicholas Hinrichsen. After graduating from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 2013, the founders started a digital car retailing company which Carvana.com acquired in 2017.

In 2020, Chris and Nicholas left to start up again. The founders' mission is to help Americans save billions of dollars on their debt. Andreessen Horowitz, CMFG Ventures and Curql Collective are among the most renowned backers of the entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.withclutch.com.