How Commercial Lenders Can Move Faster Without Cutting Corners

Commercial borrowers increasingly expect fast, tailored answers. Banks now need lending processes that can deliver speed, clarity, and customization while keeping credit discipline intact. 

In a recent ProSight Banking Trends webinar, Matt Bryant, executive vice president and director of credit risk at Frost Bank, and Omar Akkor, senior director of banking product strategy at Moody’s, discussed how banks can compete as private credit, fintechs, and rising borrower expectations put pressure on traditional lending workflows. Akkor pointed to a Moody’s 2026 banking study of more than 350 senior banking decision-makers globally, in which 55% described fintechs as a significant threat and 42% viewed private credit as a challenge. 

A few practical themes stand out: 

Define responsiveness from the borrower’s point of view. Bryant described the shift as the “Amazonification of everything”: Customers expect timely answers and do not necessarily care how the institution gets there. Akkor said responsiveness now means clarity, cadence, and commitment—knowing where the borrower stands, what is missing, what is being assessed, and what happens next. 

Move risk earlier in the process. Speed suffers when credit risk enters only after weeks of work. Akkor said leading banks are embedding risk intelligence at origination through pre-screening, early exposure checks, automated KYC, scoring, and early-warning flags. Bryant described the same need from the front-line perspective: Get decision-makers involved early, especially when a transaction has a ticking clock, such as a commercial real estate deal with a looming deadline. 

Empower the first and second lines together. Faster lending depends on trained relationship managers and credit professionals who can work from the same understanding of the borrower, the structure, and the bank’s risk appetite. Bryant said the goal is to empower the people closest to the transaction to make good decisions after the opportunity has been screened. 

Use AI to remove friction, not judgment. Akkor described AI as an enablement tool that can help anticipate borrower needs, automate spreading, generate credit memo drafts, and free analysts from repetitive work. He said some institutions that previously generated credit memos in 20 hours can now do so in four. But he emphasized that AI does not replace judgment. Relationship managers still bring trust, soft information, negotiation context, and borrower knowledge. Credit experts remain essential for exceptions, complexity, accountability, and regulatory expectations. 

Treat data as lending infrastructure. AI cannot fix disconnected or inconsistent data. Akkor warned that banks need decision-grade data, transparency, lineage, metadata, and governance. Bryant made the point more practically: Even something as familiar as financial spreading needs consistency across the firm before the data can support better models and faster decisions. 

The takeaway: Faster commercial lending does not have to mean weaker risk management. The banks best positioned to compete will move risk upstream, connect data across teams, use AI to reduce mechanical work, and keep skilled bankers and credit professionals accountable for the final judgment.