Payments

Clutch intros credit union automated lending

Photo: Adobe Stock

July 27, 2026

Summarize with

Clutch, a fintech platform built with credit unions, announced its Clutch Lending Automation System, an end-to-end lending automation platform for credit unions, according to a press release.

A dozen credit union partners ranging from $256 million to $6 billion in assets have selected Clutch LAS to support their lending operations.

. The system automates the lending process from application through funding, routing straightforward loans through automated decisioning while directing more complex cases to staff.

"Some loans don't need a person in the middle, they need a system that can move at the speed the member expects. A member who has been with you for sixteen years, never missed a payment and has thirty thousand dollars in savings shouldn't have to wait three days for a loan answer. Clutch LAS closes that gap: the right answer, for the right member, in minutes, not days," Nicholas Hinrichsen, co-founder and CEO of Clutch, said in the release.

The platform combines three components:

Digital account opening and loan origination (DAO/DLO): Captures applications across online, mobile, branch, call center and dealership channels. Clutch said credit unions using the system report a two- to fourfold reduction in account opening or loan processing time.
Fastlane: An AI-powered decisioning engine that evaluates applications in real time using credit union policy and member relationship data. Clutch said customers typically achieve 70% to 85% automated decisioning across fraud and underwriting.
Clutch fulfillment: A workflow tool that guides staff through applications requiring manual review, surfacing member data and enforcing policy.

"Clutch LAS isn't a faster version of the systems credit unions already have," Tamanna Kottwani, head of product at Clutch, said in the release. "It is a fundamentally different architecture. Instead of organizing people around loans, we built a system that handles the lending process end to end and brings staff in only when their judgment is required. The result speaks for itself: our customers see a 1.4x increase in loans funded, at any hour, on any channel, without waiting for someone to look at an application."

Payments