BERKELEY, CA (February 3, 2015) -- Shastic, the company behind Calcubot, and MeridianLink today announced a strategic alliance that integrates Calcubot’s Facebook and mobile lending tools into the MeridianLink loan origination ecosystem. This integration enables the first digital omni-channel for lending, in which next-generation borrowers can shop for a loan from looking to booking through their mobile devices, Facebook or the web, with cloud-based continuity across platforms and devices.
“Combining MeridianLink, an industry powerhouse, with the innovations that Shastic brings to the market creates the potential for bringing lending to the next generation,” said Ron Shevlin, Senior Analyst at Aite Group.
Shastic was the first company to offer Facebook lending tools to financial institutions. Since launching in 2012 they have grown to serve more than 50 financial institutions nationwide. Calcubot walks prospective loan customers through an interactive buying process tailored to a financial institution’s lending products. Prospects are recaptured through the use of social mechanisms centered on interactions with co-signers and smart alerts. Calcubot then leads prospects into the institution’s loan application process and tracks conversions.
“Financial services are like media — they’re not tied to physical goods and location is no longer king,” says Ariel Gomez, CEO of Shastic. “In the next ten years we'll see a massive deconstruction of the delivery channels for financials services. Institutions who don’t deploy the latest and greatest innovations for lending will fall by the wayside”.
For the first time, a financial institution has the ability to originate and track loans from look to book across Facebook, mobile and web channels without human intervention. As Calcubot feeds applicants into MeridianLink, it helps increase the speed and volume of loans processed by the financial institution. It also reduces data entry as Calcubot’s Cloud integrates mobile, Facebook and the web to make data accessible to the end user across platforms and devices.
By incorporating the Shastic/MeridianLink integrated solution, financial institutions can for the first time reach younger audiences through the newest and most heavily used channels. "We're very excited to partner with Shastic to open new sources for loan revenue from Facebook and mobile channels for our network of hundreds of financial institutions" added Tim Nguyen, CTO of MeridianLink.
The integrated solution represents the first milestone of an important industry trend to deliver financial services seamlessly any time and from any digital platform or device. Calcubot Mobile has been integrated with top-tier mobile banking providers such as Fiserv, Access Softek, PM Systems (now ACI) and Malauzai.
Judy Ruiz, VP of Marketing at Kirtland Federal Credit Union, added "Unlike most fintech installations that require months or even years to complete, launching Calcubot was simple;; in less than 48 hours, we were live."
About Shastic
Shastic, a technology company based in Berkeley, California, created the first-ever consumer tools on Facebook for the financial sector in 2012. The company serves over 50 financial institutions nationwide, including top 30 credit unions such as Alliant Credit Union, Kinecta Federal Credit Union and Numerica Credit Union among others. Shastic is a portfolio company of Berkeley Ventures, a business accelerator in Berkeley, California.