Algoan: Revolutionizing Lending Processes with Machine Learning and Google Cloud

Algoan is a fintech startup based in France that helps banks and other financial institutions offer fully automated lending processes tailored to their customers’ individual financial needs. Using open banking data and machine learning technology, Algoan provides faster loan processing with a greater understanding of customers’ needs. The platform has already proved popular with France’s most well-known financial companies including Franfinance, a subsidiary of Société Générale, and Cofidis, as well as lenders in Belgium and Spain. Algoan was at the forefront of the wave of “open banking” and saw an opportunity to overhaul the lending system of the French financial industry.

Credit is a vital component of any financial system. However, for banks and other financial institutions, making credit available to those who need it can be a complex process. The credit scoring models used by financial companies often fail to reflect the actual financial behavior of individuals. In France, banks and lenders often base their lending decisions on outdated socioeconomic factors, such as marital status, which may not accurately represent the financial stability of a customer. Algoan, a fintech startup, aimed to make credit scores more transparent and representative of the applicants’ actual financial behavior rather than demographic signifiers. Launched in 2018, Algoan sought to provide financial institutions with a digital platform designed to improve their lending decisions by making them faster and more relevant to the circumstances of each customer. However, to achieve this, Algoan needed an infrastructure that balanced power, stability, and security.

Algoan built its technology around Kubernetes, the container technology developed at Google. After evaluating its options, Algoan found Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) to have the right combination of security, power, and ease of use. Algoan’s credit solution is white-labeled, designed to slot into any bank’s existing product range with minimal disruption. The core of the platform is the Algoan Decision Engine (ADEN). When a bank’s customer applies for a loan, ADEN takes the customer’s transaction data and applies its proprietary machine learning algorithms. The transaction data forms the basis of a credit score, which is much fairer and more personalized than traditional demographic methods because it is based on the customer’s actual financial behavior. Algoan also uses Cloud CDN for a smooth user experience, Google Cloud operations tools for logging and monitoring, and Identity-Aware Proxy for controlling access and administration. When the company began working with Pub/Sub to manage its event publishing, Google Cloud Technical Account Management proved invaluable for setting that up quickly and with minimal fuss.

• Powered by Google Cloud, Algoan’s solution offers banks and lenders a clear, simple digital lending platform with plug and play, white-labeled products. The platform enables credit scores to be calculated in a clearer, more transparent way than before, and much faster. Traditional credit checks often take days, creating unnecessary worry for customers. With Algoan, customers are informed within five minutes of their application and can be sure that the decision is based on a much more relevant set of criteria. Along with the added customization and convenience of the platform, Algoan and its customers benefit from the high levels of security that come with Google Cloud, including certification for rigorous compliance protocols such as PCI-DSS and SOC 1/2/3. In response to the COVID-19 situation, Algoan created a new, free product for consumers, using the company’s algorithms to predict exactly how their finances would change in the short and medium terms, and bringing some clarity to their financial planning.

• Lending decisions are now finalized in five minutes, not five days.

• Algoan's new product for consumers was unveiled in just two weeks.

• Algoan is planning to expand into more countries across Europe in late 2020.