Bankers are asking the wrong questions about artificial intelligence

AI is the biggest buzzword in consumer lending right now, but your financing programs won't improve if your core data is a mess. For retailers and operators, the message is clear: AI is not a magic fix for poor credit decisioning or clunky checkout flows. It is an automation tool that scales what you already have. If your current lending waterfall or customer data collection is inefficient, AI will simply make those mistakes happen faster and at a larger scale. To make AI work for your financing strategy, focus on the 'plumbing' first. This means ensuring your point-of-sale systems and lender integrations communicate seamlessly. When you look at new AI-driven fintech tools, don't ask what the AI can do in a vacuum. Instead, ask how it integrates with your existing customer database and whether your data is clean enough for the machine to learn from. Retailers who succeed with AI will be those who use it to refine specific touchpoints, such as identifying which customers are best suited for a lease-to-own option versus a standard credit line, rather than trying to overhaul their entire operation overnight.

Source: American Banker — Top News

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