Underscoring its commitment to transforming credit decision making through AI, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) won Silver at the National ICT Awards NBQSA 2024, for its AI-Powered Credit Decision Making.  

CDB’s focus on sustainability and technological disruptions has been recognized by the ICT industry as one that raises the bar in both innovation and excellence in the financial services industry. 

The AI-powered credit decision developed by CDB’s in-house team leverages CRIB data obtained directly through API integration to ensure real-time access to crucial credit information enhancing a decisive and precise end-result. A set of advanced AI algorithms which analyses vast sets of data to generate highly accurate credit assessments is the system’s backbone.  

This is further enhanced with an added layer of intelligence obtained from the AI-powered vehicle valuation module, which accurately evaluates collateral value for vehicle-based credit. These credit decisions therefore are based on a thorough understanding of asset worth, enabling CDB to make informed, speedy and reliable decisions.

“This AI-powered model forms a strong foundation for the future of credit assessment,” explains Director Business Operations Dave De Silva. “Given the intensely competitive nature of the financial services industry and with AI technology rapidly advancing, there is a need for greater accuracy, speed and efficiency in credit decision making if we are to stay ahead and give the customer a level of service that goes beyond expectation with fast and reliable credit assessments.”

This tech model showcases tangible advantages over the traditional manual approval processes with improvement in credit quality.  “This model reduces default risk, frees resources and enables greater business capacity and volume,” says General Manager Credit Sudath Fernando. “While CDB maintains central monitoring, we have rolled the technology to branch level empowering our team to make accurate and informed evaluations. Human bias in credit decision making is reduced, while a consistent and objective approach across applications can be observed, while compliance with regulatory standards is ensured.”

As a part of CDB’s strategy, building on technological disruption on a common ground began when the Company embarked on its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) journey in 2019.  RPA introduced data digitalization using OCR and ICR, and also the use of BOTs and APIs, leading the way towards innovation and greater efficiency. The tech disruption is well exampled in CDB’s strategic focus on virtual operations, growing its business seamlessly while prioritizing flexibility, information accessibility and remote collaborations. Quantifiably, CDB has optimized processes, minimized operational costs and created a modern and resilient organizational model, set to lead the financial services revolution.