OakNorth: Machine Learning Driven Business Lending

OakNorth’s next-generation credit and monitoring platform leverages machine learning, decades of credit expertise, and massive data sets to model a forward-looking view of a borrower’s financial situation that is informed by industry benchmarks, macroeconomic drivers, and scenario analysis specific to that business. OakNorth leverages the platform to lend directly off its own balance sheet via OakNorth Bank in the UK and licenses the Platform as a Software-as-a-Service solution to other banks and lenders around the world. OakNorth’s Platform helps its 17 partner banks across six countries: 1) Bring credit insight back to the front line, 2) boost productivity amongst relationship managers and credit analysts, and 3) perform more robust credit analysis and monitoring.

Through leveraging the Platform, OakNorth Bank in the UK has been able to lend over £4 billion without a single credit loss, reaching cash flow break-even in just 9 months and making £65.9 million pre-tax profit in 2019. OakNorth Bank claims that its lending in the UK has directly helped with the creation of tens of thousands of new homes and jobs, and through licensing its Platform to other lenders, is helping to accelerate this multiplier effect.

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