Numerated Growth Technologies, Inc. (Numerated), a financial technology start-up that provides a real-time commerce platform for banks, launches today following a successful spin out from Eastern Labs, the fintech incubator inside Eastern Bank, the oldest and largest mutual bank in the country.
Numerated's platform allows banks to make loans in real-time by digitizing their credit policies using cutting edge data and data science technology. But unlike other lending platforms available to banks, it is not a simple workflow and back office tool. It automates marketing to bank customers and prospects across email, direct mail, online, and in mobile banking, substantially increasing the consumers and businesses considering the bank for their borrowing needs. The platform then maximizes the conversion of that consideration into loans by executing the credit policy and loan closing in real-time.
Originally rolled out in December 2015 at Eastern Bank, Labs facilitated nearly $100 million in lending and executed thousands of real-time decisions on applications for credit. Loans can be processed, from application to funding, in under five minutes.
“We launched Eastern Labs three years ago to build cutting edge technology in order to better serve our customers and accelerate our culture of innovation,” said Eastern Bank Chairman and CEO Bob Rivers. “It’s incredibly exciting to see this come to fruition with the launch of Numerated and the continued expansion of Eastern's Express Business Loan program.”
As word has quietly spread in the industry about the success Eastern has had with the platform, nearly 100 banks have reached out to learn more, with multiple banks licensing the platform before any public announcements by Eastern about making it available to other banks. Much like Eastern, many financial institutions are seeking technology solutions to drive growth. As customers come into branches less frequently, a platform that can drive sales outside the branch — online, over the phone, or on an iPad sitting with a customer — has become an essential piece of technology. This ability to drive growth was proven inside Eastern Bank and as other banks have seen the proof, they have signed up.
“Numerated's technology will generate significant new business opportunities for our bank and help deliver a cutting edge experience for our customers,” said Thomas J. Fraser, President & CEO at First Federal Lakewood, a bank that became a customer as well as an investor after seeing the technology. “We strive to consistently offer high quality and innovative products and services, like those enabled by Numerated's platform, which we believe will benefit our customers and help shape the future of banking.”
Industry experts have cited the importance for banks to continue to innovate and leverage technology to not only streamline customer interactions, but also reduce loan transaction costs, two things Numerated does. "Banks that want to compete and win in today's market need to either build, buy or partner with technology solutions that make lending easier and more accessible," said Karen Mills, senior fellow at the Harvard Business School and former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration. "Eastern Bank tackled this challenge head on and nurtured a team that came up with an industry-leading solution which will now be available through the Numerated platform."
“Unlike other fintech startups, we don’t compete with or try to disrupt banks,” said Numerated CEO Dan O’Malley. “We are built for banks, by a bank, funded by banks, and backed by the largest bank technology company in the world. Our mission is to build the next generation of technology to help banks grow.”
Numerated's initial $9 million financing round was led by Cultivation Capital FinTech, a debut fund from investors with deep fintech expertise, and Venrock, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms with prior investments in Apple, DoubleClick, Endeca, and Intel. Also participating were Eastern Bank; FIS, a global leader in financial services technology; First Federal Lakewood; Hyperplane; and Bright FinTech.
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