LendForward, a UK-based alternative lending platform providing SME business loans, was operating their sales and underwriting teams on a fragmented stack: Salesforce for the sales CRM, spreadsheets for underwriting decisions, a separate document management tool, and manual email for customer communication.
LendForward, a UK-based alternative lending platform providing SME business loans, was operating their sales and underwriting teams on a fragmented stack: Salesforce for the sales CRM, spreadsheets for underwriting decisions, a separate document management tool, and manual email for customer communication. The disconnect between systems meant the same customer data lived in three places, never fully synchronised. Sales reps had no visibility into underwriting status. Underwriters had no context on sales conversations. The CEO calculated that 40% of declined applications could have been approved with the right context — context that was lost in the system fragmentation. With a 60-person team including 25 sales reps and 12 underwriters, the Salesforce bill alone was £8,500/month ($11,000). The goal: a unified custom CRM and underwriting workflow system that replaced all three tools, gave both teams real-time visibility into every application, and cut 50% of the manual administrative work.
We built a unified platform combining a bespoke sales CRM with an integrated underwriting workflow engine. The system provided a single application record visible to both sales and underwriting teams, automated document collection via a secure client portal, AI-assisted credit analysis pulling bureau data and financial statements, configurable underwriting decision frameworks, real-time communication logging (email + phone + WhatsApp), and automated compliance documentation. The platform eliminated the need for Salesforce and the two supplementary tools entirely.
Next.js 15 frontend with role-based views (sales rep, underwriter, manager, compliance)
Node.js/Express backend API with PostgreSQL database and Prisma ORM
Secure client document portal with e-signature integration (DocuSign API)
Experian and Equifax credit bureau API integration for automated bureau pulls
Twilio integration for call recording and SMS, with WhatsApp Business API
AI credit narrative generator using GPT-4o to draft underwriting summaries
Compliance audit trail with tamper-evident logging for FCA requirements
AWS deployment with SOC 2 Type II-aligned security controls
“This system paid for itself in the first year from Salesforce savings alone. But the real value is the 18% improvement in our approval rate — that's directly attributable to giving our underwriters the full sales conversation context for the first time. The ROI on the right context is enormous in lending.”
— Tom Richardson, CEO, LendForward
The unified system eliminated the three-tool fragmentation that was costing LendForward both money and approval rate. The AI credit narrative feature alone saved each underwriter 45 minutes per application. The compliance audit trail reduced FCA audit preparation time from 3 weeks to 4 days. The project cost £180,000 ($220,000) all-in and delivered £756,000 ($920,000) in measurable value in the first 12 months.
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