Upstart Launches First Spanish Digital Lending Platform

One of the nation’s top artificial intelligence lending platforms announced Tuesday that they will be operating the first ever online lending platform in Spanish. Upstart will mimic its English platform with full access to loan information, borrowing tools, loan agreements, and customer support for Spanish speaking customers.

“Inclusion often starts with language,” said Dave Girouard, co-founder and CEO, to deBanked. “We founded Upstart with the belief that better technology could improve access to affordable credit. While better AI models are the primary lever we use to create a more inclusive platform, they are not the only lever.

“While restaurants and retailers routinely offer a Spanish-language alternative, online lenders unfortunately do not,” Girouard continued. “Taking out a loan is a big decision and comes with important obligations, so it’s clearly better for the consumer if the entire experience, including disclosures, the loan agreement, and customer support, are available in their preferred language.”

With more than 60 million Latinos living in the United States, access to information about personal loans in another language will be able to provide more clarity and transparency for a new breed of customers who may be hesitant about lending as is.

The launch of the platform is somewhat unique, as they are introducing borrowing services to an entire demographic that is perceived as untapped. Getting access to an entire community of people by breaking a language barrier could definitely be one way to add potential borrowers to Upstart’s book of business.

This pattern of increasing qualified borrowers is nothing new for Upstart, whose business model has been to work with both banks and credit unions by examining potential borrowers on more than just raw credit scores. Work history, education, academic standing, and standardized test scores are also factors that Upstart considers when underwriting their loans.

The loans are offered exclusively through Cross River Bank, but could be offered by other institutions that work with Upstart in the near future.