“Given the breadth of our software and solutions, financial institutions can tackle their most pressing challenges with the help of a single vendor”
Banks and credit unions face an uphill battle – continued competitive threats from new market entrants and increasingly complex compliance requirements. Financial institution leaders have to balance growth with risk and, in many cases, look to expansion and outpace increasing compliance costs. Abrigo is the partner of choice for US banks and credit unions because Abrigo helps them tackle growth and risk challenges in a single, integrated platform. The platform uses the institution’s critical data and makes it easy to construct risk models and build reports for key stakeholders. The software helps institutions tackle the CECL, or current expected credit loss model, Asset/Liability Management, Stress Testing, Capital Planning, and Credit Risk Management through origination and administration.
Abrigo reduces data inefficiency as an integrated platform and gives leaders the information to make decisions and the tools to digitally service their clients. “We outrank our competitors in industry reports when it comes to customer service, including our responsive customer support team, certified change management experts, experienced implementation consultants, and ongoing support from client success,” says Jay Blandford, President of Abrigo.
“We don’t just provide a login; we help the institution set and achieve milestones for product adoption and return on investment. Given the breadth of our software and solutions, financial institutions can tackle their most pressing challenges with the help of a single vendor.”For single pain points, banks may have multiple options, but for the breadth of support and solutions it provides, Abrigo stands apart. In addition to their platform, which offers Lending & Credit, Financial Crime, and Portfolio Optimization capabilities, they offer bank-wide dash boarding and AI-powered reporting, giving bank leaders visibility to make decisions. “Abrigo also has experienced consultants and project managers that work with our clients to help them learn and navigate the product during implementation and beyond. This helps the client to implement the product in the best way for their institution,” adds Jay.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board released a new model for banks and credit unions called CECL or Current Expected Credit Loss Model. It changes the way bankers calculate their Allowance – a much-scrutinized financial model. Abrigo is the industry-leading CECL provider, including an endorsement from the American Bankers Association. Between their easy-to-use software and experienced advisory team, they can support large and smaller financial institutions to make the transition to CECL easier. “Our CECL solution is unique in the market as it’s configurable to support less complex community-based banks and credit unions but also many large banks that are SEC filers and were among the first to adopt CECL,” adds Jay. “In fact, our software was used by more SEC filers for CECL transitioning than any other solution. The model has been consciously designed to support each stage of the institution’s lifecycle as the institution and their needs grow.”
A Texas bank with more than $1 billion in assets relied on Excel to calculate its allowance for loan and lease losses (ALLL). But the bank was increasing, and their Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, recognized that it might not be the most efficient tool as the bank got bigger. They selected the Sageworks ALLL Solution from Abrigo. The bank was particularly impressed with Abrigo’s commitment to customer service, which closely aligned with its values. In addition to leveraging the Sageworks ALLL Solution, the bank subsequently implemented the Sageworks Stress Testing Solution by Abrigo. By automating the incurred loss model and stress testing, the bank captured and stored most of its loan data nightly. This became a huge asset when they began considering its methodology option for the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard.
For the days to come, Abrigo will continue to build out their software platform and advisory team to tackle the changing needs of financial institutions. “As an example, in 2020/2021 we pivoted quickly to provide automation and support for institutions in the administration of PPP Forgiveness,” elucidates Jay. “We will launch improvements to our Consumer Lending Origination capabilities, more integrations through API, additional functionality to support Loan Review and Budgeting, and more soon.”
