Case study · FINANCE
An underwriting process that used to run entirely by hand, now automated from application to recommendation.
(The Brief)
Little Business Loans provides short-term funding to small businesses that need cash flow quickly. The offer was clear, but the digital journey needed to work harder: bring in the right enquiries, keep the brand active between campaigns, and stop the underwriting team spending hours manually sorting applications that were unlikely to meet the lending criteria.
We built the website, took over the social content, and created an automated application-triage workflow that turns an overloaded inbox into a focused underwriting queue.
Applications were coming in, but volume is not the same as quality. The underwriting team could receive around 30 applications in a day, with many falling outside the agreed lending criteria before a human had even begun the proper review. Every unsuitable application still took time to open, check and assess. That made the team slower to respond to the businesses with a genuine chance of securing funding — exactly the people Little Business Loans needed to serve well.
Build one joined-up system. A clearer website gives applicants a straightforward route to funding; consistent social content keeps the brand visible and trusted; and automation handles the first layer of eligibility checks. Each new application is picked up by an AI-assisted workflow and checked against the agreed criteria, including factors such as CCJs and business turnover. The system does not make the lending decision — every viable case still goes to a human underwriter — but it removes the obvious non-fits from the manual queue before they get there.
(The Work)
A clearer, more credible website built around the questions business owners need answered quickly: how much they can borrow, how the process works, what is required to apply, and how fast funds can be released.
Ongoing content that keeps Little Business Loans visible beyond the website. Practical, clear posts give the brand a regular presence and keep the funding conversation moving between enquiries.
An AI-assisted triage workflow that collects new applications, checks them against the agreed criteria, and routes the cases most likely to be viable into the manual underwriting process.
(The Triage Engine)
Around 30 applications a day used to get the same manual treatment, whether they had a real chance or not. Now each one moves through the same automated checks — pass, and it moves on; fail, and it's declined immediately.
Application form and last 3 months of business bank statements received.
Confirms the applicant company and named director match official records.
Director or company details don't match — application closed, no further checks run.
Bank statements and records checked for County Court Judgments or debt company payments.
CCJ or active debt repayment found — hard auto-decline, regardless of other factors.
Verifies turnover from bank statements meets the minimum threshold for lending.
Turnover falls below the minimum threshold required to proceed.
Every application that clears each check reaches the human underwriter with a full risk report already attached.
(The Risk Report)
Rather than a flat approve or decline, every application that reaches the underwriting team comes with a full risk report: the numbers extracted, the criteria checked, and a clear recommendation behind it. The human underwriter still makes the final call, but they start from a finished analysis instead of a stack of bank statements.
That one change removes most of the manual work from the day. What used to mean opening every application, reading three months of bank statements line by line, and manually checking each one against the lending criteria now takes seconds per case — freeing the underwriting team to spend their time on the applications that actually deserve a closer look, rather than sorting the ones that were never going to qualify.
(Visual Identity)
A short-term business loan is already a big decision. The site needed to feel straightforward and trustworthy rather than like small print, so a clean blue accent against dark neutrals keeps everything easy to read at a glance.
Typography
Open Sans — Headings & Body
Aa123
Colour Palette
#303030
#56a2e4
#eaeaea
(Project Facts)
Client
Little Business Loans
Sector
Commercial Finance
Services
Web Design · E-commerce · Branding · Automation · Hosting
Platform
WordPress · AI Integration
Timeline
6 weeks build · Ongoing support
Live Site
(Next Steps)
We turned Little Business Loans' manual underwriting into an automated triage system.
Yours could be next.
