Two financial institutions have tapped automated lending service provider Vine Financial within the past month. 

The $227 million HSLC and the $224 million Triad Bank started working with the fintech to boost commercial lending. 

According to Bank Automation News’ Transactions Database, which tracks emerging technology selected or acquired by financial institutions, Austin, Texas-based Vine also signed up $1 billion Freedom Bank in May. The company also raised an undisclosed amount on June 12 from from 11 banking and fintech leaders. 

“We are seeing increasing demand for automation in the underwriting process,” a Vine spokesperson told BAN. “Financial institutions are looking for ways to streamline workflows while still enabling credit analysts to make informed adjustments as needed.” 

Vine uses AI to help banks accelerate traditionally manual and time-consuming processes such as data entry and information verification, the spokesperson said. “With our solution, financial institutions benefit from substantial efficiency gains and improved accuracy.” 

The fintech’s tool is tailored for “commercial lending, which is where we see the strongest demand among our clients,” the spokesperson said. 

Kenton, Ohio-based HSLC first saw Vine at ICBA Live in 2025 and wanted to bring it on board due to its “intuitive design and powerful capabilities,” an HSLC spokesperson told BAN. 

“We have a unique credit memo process at HSLC, so we’ve been working closely with Vine over the last few weeks to tailor the system to our needs,” the spokesperson said. “We expect to be fully up and running by the end of August.” 

Rise of automated lending 

Financial institutions are deploying more AI-driven lending solutions not only to boost efficiencies, but also to drive revenue, Welles Borie, principal product manager at automated lending provider Amount, told BAN, adding that automated lending solutions allow small FIs to compete nationally. 

Since the pandemic, a shift toward digital services has increased consumer expectations for banking, including lending, Borie said.  

“Their expectation level has now started to kind of encroach upon traditional banking experiences and digital experiences,” he said. 

HSLC also sees financial institutions turning to automation to speed up decisioning, reduce friction and stay competitive, the spokesperson said. 

“We’re starting with commercial lending because that’s where we see the most volume and the biggest opportunity to relieve operational congestion,” the spokesperson said. 

Developing lending solutions for commercial clients is much more complex than retail clients, Borie said, and that’s a major reason why FIs pivot to vendors to aid in this transition.