5 Automation Decisions That Will Help Lenders Survive Uncertain Times  

As the fintech world wrestles with rising capital costs, dropping demand, and global uncertainty, lenders face a make-or-break moment.

Do you pull back and weather the storm? Or do you automate to adapt and grow?

Based on TurnKey Lender’s experience of previous macroeconomic shocks such as COVID disruptions and cost-of-capital crises, our CEO Dmytro Voronenko shares a candid breakdown of how embedded lenders and digital lenders can not only survive but thrive.

1. Align your lending automation strategy with business risk

Every crisis forces hard decisions.  

And in my experience, the right automation strategy starts with brutal clarity: what are you afraid of? That fear isn’t just emotional, it’s directional. It points to the pressure point in your business model. Once you’ve identified that, automation becomes a targeted tool.  

Here’s how different fears lead to different automation strategies: 

• If you fear losing ground to faster competitors → focus on borrower experience and faster originations. 

• If shrinking margins are your concern → target operational efficiency and cost reduction. 

• If you’re unsure about risk models → enhance credit decisioning and integrate real-time data. 

• If you’re worried about missing an opportunity → automate for speed and scalable growth. 

2. Set one automation goal. And one KPI to measure it.

In turbulent markets, complexity is the enemy of execution. That’s why I always recommend focusing on one clear goal.  

Maybe you need to preserve market share. Maybe you need to slash operational costs. Maybe you want to scale into a new segment while the competition freezes. 

Whatever the case, define that goal and back it with a single, measurable KPI. This is the metric that every automation decision must support. Everything else is noise. And in crisis mode, noise is risk. 

3. Prioritize lending automation that delivers fast ROI

Right now, automation has to deliver. Not someday. Not in 12 months. We’re talking 3 to 6 months, max. The question isn’t whether automation is good. It’s whether it brings ROI under real-world pressure. 

To prioritize effectively, ask: 

• Will this reduce operational expenses quickly? 

• Can it accelerate loan approvals and disbursements? 

• Will it improve credit risk classification within months? 

• Can it respond dynamically to pricing or market shifts? 

If a tool can’t show value within a quarter or two, put it on hold. Focus on moves that buy you time, efficiency, and edge. 

4. Combine platform flexibility with pricing agility

You can’t afford a rigid system right now. Your automation platform has to be flexible enough to keep up with the pace of change. That means you need to be able to adjust decision rules, application flows, risk criteria, and pricing without writing code or waiting weeks. 

Equally important is how you pay for your platform. In times of demand volatility, fixed costs become a liability. That’s why usage-based pricing becomes a strategic one. You need a platform that flexes with your volume. You pay less when things slow down. You pay more when you grow. It’s simple, fair, and survivable. 

True configurability paired with pricing elasticity gives you more than speed. It gives you control. And when the market is unpredictable, control is everything. 

5. Strengthen credit risk assessment with real-time data

If risk misjudgment is your bottleneck, you don’t need to overhaul everything. You just need to sharpen what you’re already doing. One of the most effective moves we’ve seen across clients is integrating automated bank statement analysis. 

Recent account data tells you more than a traditional credit score ever could.  

With the right models, it gives you insight into behavioral patterns, liquidity, and risk signals in real time. Even a modest 2–5% improvement in classification accuracy can help you approve more good borrowers while avoiding trouble.  

The next few quarters will reward flexibility. Lenders who move fast, adjust often, and automate the right way will grow stronger. 

That’s what we’ve seen before. That’s what we expect again.