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AI at Work · Action

Add AI to loan processing one step at a time

Published Nov 13, 2026 · Last checked Nov 13, 2026 · Last changed Nov 13, 2026
The short answer

A large mortgage lender says AI agents now do about 40% of its back-office loan work. Each agent started with a person reviewing every action. A credit union can ask its loan system vendor for the same kind of agent and start it the same way.

Verdict
WATCH
For
Credit unions that make mortgages. $100 million and up. Chief lending officer, IT lead.
Cost and time
The interview gives no cost. Ask the vendor for the price for each loan and the setup time.

Why

Pennymac is a large US mortgage lender. In a HousingWire interview published Nov 2, 2026, a managing director said AI agents handle about 40% to 45% of its back-office loan work. He said the time to conditional approval was cut in half. Each agent is trained like a new hire, and it starts with a person reviewing everything it does. The company runs quality checks on every agent, and he said that agents can make mistakes. Staff moved from repeat tasks to quality checks and hard cases. The interview was made with Vesta, a loan software company whose chief executive appears in it. Nobody outside has checked the numbers. A credit union's mortgage team does the same back-office steps on fewer loans.

What to do

  1. List the back-office steps of one loan type, from application to closing. Write the minutes each step takes.
  2. Mark the steps that repeat the same way each time, such as checking that a file is complete.
  3. Ask your loan system vendor which of those steps its AI agents can do today.
  4. Ask which credit unions use them, and ask for one reference of your size.
  5. Ask for the vendor's error numbers and how it measured them.
  6. If you test an agent, start with a person reviewing every action. Reduce the review only when the error count allows it.
  7. Keep a quality check on a sample of files every week.
  8. Count the days from application to conditional approval before and after.

What data may go in

A loan file holds a member's full financial record. It goes only into a tool that passed vendor review. Ask the vendor in writing whether it uses your files to train its AI.

Who checks the output

A processor reviews every action at the start. Quality control samples files every week. The underwriter makes the loan decision. Report the error count to the chief lending officer each month.

The rule to check

A person decides the loan. If AI takes part in a loan decision, the member must get the real reasons for a denial. The credit union must also test for fair treatment. A new AI feature from a current vendor still needs a vendor review.

What can go wrong

The numbers come from one large lender, in an interview made with a software vendor. An agent can make the same mistake on many files before anyone sees it. Keep the weekly sample, and keep a person on every action until the error count is low.

Sources

Plain text version