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Rasmus Heinla, head of consumer financing for private clients at Coop Pank, explains that the new solution allows Coop Pank to send an automatic request to the Tax and Customs Board database regarding the client’s salary and other types of income. “In such case, when applying for a loan, the client is not required to provide additional documents regarding his or her salary, and we can give a prompter reply, too. At the same time, the client is in no way obliged to allow such automatic requests,” said Heinla.

At first, Coop Pank will use the new solution, primarily when issuing small loans, but in the future, it is to be implemented in other loan products.

Recently, Coop Pank has introduced a number of innovations regarding small loans. In early March, the bank simplified the process of identifying the loan applicant, providing an opportunity to prove the person’s identity by means of the video verification system on the basis of Veriff’s technology. This step allows to submit applications and conclude contracts without visiting a bank office and has proven especially useful in the recent emergency situation.

At the end of May, Coop Pank also changed the pricelist for its private clients waiving the fee for the early repayment of small loans, which used to be charged in the amount of up to 1% of the loan. This change aims to provide clients with an option of repaying a small loan as fast as possible should they want to do so. The survey concerning small loans commissioned by Coop Pank showed that eight out of ten people taking out a small loan are interested in repaying it early without extra fees, and every other person would like an opportunity to pay more than the agreed monthly payment at times.

According to Rasmus Heinla, the impact of such changes is twofold – on the one hand, everything becomes easier and faster for the client, while on the other hand, the quality of the data needed to make a lending decision also improves. “The positive impact of technological innovation has become especially apparent during the recent emergency caused by the coronavirus, when it turned out to be more difficult for customers to visit bank offices. At the same time, our customers’ expectations regarding speed and quality have also grown, and we, of course, are trying to meet such new expectations,” said Heinla.