Derek Hrinya: How Loquat eliminates business banking friction

Welcome to Loquat insights. The video series bringing you direct perspectives from our leadership team on key challenges, exciting opportunities, and innovation shaping the future of banking.

Hello everyone, I'm Derek, and welcome to Loquat insights.

Q: From your time on the banking side, what was the biggest pain point small businesses ran into just trying to open an account?

Derek: Speed and repetition, mostly. A business owner would sit down expecting a quick process, and instead they're re-entering information the bank already had, waiting on manual reviews, or getting bounced to a branch for something that should've taken minutes online. Every extra step is a moment where they start wondering if this is worth it.

Q: Does that same friction show up when it comes to issuing business debit or credit cards?

Derek: It's actually worse, because now you've added a second onboarding process on top of the first one. A business gets approved for an account, and then they have to go through an entirely separate workflow just to get a card in hand. From the owner's seat, that's not two products, that's one more reason to go find a bank that hands them both at once.

Q: What about business loans? Where does the process typically break down?

Derek: Documentation and turnaround time, mainly. Small business owners are used to being asked for the same financials three different ways by three different systems, and then waiting weeks for an answer while their cash flow need hasn't gone anywhere. By the time a decision comes back, the opportunity they were financing for might already be gone.

Q: How does Loquat address these pain points across account opening, card issuance, and lending?

Derek: The advantage is treating it as one connected journey instead of three separate ones. A business can open an account, get approved for a card, and apply for financing without re-keying the same information three times or waiting on three disconnected teams. For the institution, that means fewer drop-offs and faster time to revenue, and for the business owner, it means the bank finally moves at the speed they expected in the first place.

In our next episode, our Chief Product Delivery Officer, Chris Cochran, will share some insights into what makes a successful implementation.

Thank you for watching. Join us for the next Loquat insights.