How TurnKey Lender Responded to the COVID-19 Crisis

When COVID-19 hit, the lending space changed in a matter of days. Physical branches closed. Borrowers lost income. Governments launched emergency relief programs with tight deadlines. Lenders who had delayed digital transformation suddenly had no runway left. 

TurnKey Lender responded with platform releases, free tools, guidance, and direct support for lenders to help them navigate one of the most disruptive periods in modern financial history.

What the Pandemic Meant for Lenders

During the lockdowns, borrowers needed relief faster than manual processes could deliver it. Credit risk models built on pre-pandemic data became unreliable almost immediately as employment, cash flow, and spending patterns changed.

The US CARES Act launched the Paycheck Protection Program. It was a $350 billion initiative providing 100% federally guaranteed loans to small businesses. Lenders had days to get compliant systems in place. It was virtually impossible for institutions still running manual or partially digitized operations.

Free Tools and Fast Deployment

In March 2020, the crisis was only beginning to escalate and TurnKey Lender offered its personal loan module free of charge to banks, credit unions, and other lenders. This initiative was featured by Forbes in its coverage of fintech firms supporting the financial sector during the pandemic.

This free TurnKey Lender edition included customizable loan application, a borrower portal, and an origination system. This core infrastructure allowed lenders to accept applications online, process them remotely, and serve customers without physical interactions. The goal was to keep lenders operational while the physical world shut down.

PPP Automation: Taking Lenders Live in 24 Hours

In April 2020, TurnKey Lender released a dedicated Paycheck Protection Program solution. This pre-configured lending system was built specifically for lenders to issue PPP loans under the CARES Act.

The platform was deployable within one business day and pre-qualified applicants in under two minutes with AI-driven credit decisioning. PPP loans were 100% federally guaranteed, so the primary challenge for lenders was not credit risk but processing volume, speed, and regulatory compliance. TurnKey Lender’s PPP solution covered the full loan lifecycle out of the box:

• Streamlined online PPP application form
• AI-driven decisioning pre-configured to PPP eligibility rules
• Automated loan collection and payment alerts
• Built-in regulatory compliance with real-time rule updates
• End-to-end automation from application through servicing and reporting

Platform Updates Built for the Crisis

After the PPP solution, TurnKey Lender shipped a broader COVID-era feature update in July 2020. It addressed the structural changes the pandemic was forcing on lenders and borrowers.

AI-Powered Bank Statement Scoring was introduced to be used as a primary or supplementary credit scoring model. This was a direct response to the failure of traditional credit models to reflect the pandemic’s impact on borrower finances. Employment and income were disrupted across entire sectors. This made cash flow data from bank statements a more reliable signal than historical credit bureau data.

Loan restructuring tools were significantly upgraded to allow lenders to change loan terms and calculations on existing loans. For borrowers who couldn’t pay under original terms, restructuring became the most practical alternative to default. Doing it manually at scale was not viable.

Additional updates in the July 2020 release included:

• Business KPI Dashboard using machine learning for portfolio and staff performance monitoring
• Borrower geolocation tracking and mapping via Gmap integration
• AI-driven employee KPI tracking for remote team management
• Updated rollover, payoff, PTP, and grace period functionality
• Customer rating system for collectors and underwriters
• Full Borrower Portal coverage via public API including payments management
• Self-service loan migration tool for importing customers and disbursed loans

Another important update was the employee performance tracking. Managers lost the visibility they had relied on in office environments. The AI-driven KPI module gave them a data-based replacement.

Dedicated Support for Specialized Lenders

TurnKey Lender offered operational guidance and built tailored functionality for two categories of lenders that became critical during the crisis.

• Community banks faced pressure to modify existing loans at scale. Extending repayment terms, reducing interest rates, and adjusting principal on existing portfolios became a primary risk management strategy. TurnKey Lender embedded loan modification capabilities into automated workflows. This allowed community banks to restructure loans quickly without manual processing bottlenecks.
• Economic Development Corporations (EDCs) were nonprofit organizations focused on regional economic growth. They became frontline distributors of emergency business funding. TurnKey Lender provided them with a platform that allowed EDCs to launch online applications quickly, make credit decisions in minutes, and evaluate borrowers with weak credit profiles based on traditional and alternative data. 

What the Pandemic Accelerated

Speaking on The Lend podcast during the crisis, TurnKey Lender COO and Co-Founder Elena Ionenko outlined trends she expected to define lending going forward. In retrospect, those predictions have largely proven accurate.

• Digital lending is the new default. In-branch lending continues its structural decline. Fully online loan processing with fast, seamless user experiences is now the baseline expectation for both consumers and businesses.
• Alternative data is now core to underwriting. Traditional credit scoring alone is no longer sufficient. Cash flow data, bank statements, and real-time financial signals are standard inputs in modern credit decisioning.
• Embedded finance has become mainstream. BNPL and in-house financing offered by non-financial businesses are now standard. Companies that kept lending in-house rather than outsourcing improved customer relationships and gained income.
• End-to-end automation is not optional. The pandemic demonstrated that relying on manual lending processes is the way of the past. Automated processing, decisioning, servicing are now the norm.
• The inflation period after the pandemic reinforced these lessons. Rising costs, tighter margins, and increased credit risk put additional pressure on operational efficiency. Lenders with automated, AI-driven platforms were better positioned to adjust pricing models, maintain portfolio health, and scale without proportional cost increases.

Final thoughts

COVID forced the TurnKey Lender team to work harder than ever. We developed and rolled out free tools, a PPP-specific platform, two major feature releases, and offered direct support for community banks and EDCs. 

The pandemic compressed years of digital lending adoption into months. But for lenders who used that moment to build the right infrastructure, the compounding benefits have continued well beyond the crisis.