How AI is Transforming Commercial Finance

Many brokers are sceptical about AI. A recent survey of Allica’s broker panel found over half of commercial mortgage and bridging brokers feel technology, including AI, has had little or even negative impact on application speed and efficiency. Asset finance brokers reported a slightly better experience, but only by a narrow margin.

I understand why. For many, AI means frustrating chatbots that block access to real help. But at Allica, the real transformation is happening behind the scenes.

Power to the people
While some banks cut human interaction to save costs, we do the opposite. We keep real business development managers at the heart of our service and invest in automating the processes behind them. This makes our people more effective, decisions faster, and the broker experience smoother.

How AI is changing lending
Real AI is often invisible, and that’s true at Allica. Our tech team has embedded AI into processes that speed up applications and improve accuracy:

• Faster processing: commercial mortgage applications now take around two days, and asset finance just four hours. AI helps underwriters read documents and process unstructured data, cutting times by up to 75%.
• Preventing delays: we’re developing AI that checks applications in real time for missing details, reducing back-and-forth.
• Automated decisions: for asset finance, machine learning assesses applications instantly, approving or declining based on creditworthiness and policy. Decisions that once took 24 hours now take one minute. We only automate clear-cut cases and currently limit this to assets under £50,000, with plans to expand after testing.

The bottom line
While many banks put tech barriers between themselves and brokers, Allica uses AI to enhance human relationships. From faster underwriting to smarter decisioning, AI is reshaping commercial finance, and we’re proud to lead the way. Whatever innovations come next, the human connection brokers value will remain central.