Lenders worry about a lot of things: their cost structure, profitability, investing in automation, changing their infrastructure, their product mix. But their primary concern in the last couple of years has been shrinking margins. Technology can help them find a valuable segment of the business or a local marketplace. Lenders segment by product, but not necessarily by borrower attitude and behavior. It's a place where there's plenty of room for improvement.

"Technology can enable lenders to find a valuable segment of the business or a local marketplace. It can also enable lenders to do a lot of the data validation at the front end."

The quality of data and effectiveness of underwriting are of paramount importance. In many cases, lenders consider data quality to be the major benefit of their investment in front-end technology. Technology, when implemented properly, can enable lenders to do a lot of the data validation at the front end — looking for criminal records, unusual financial transactions and previous bankruptcies, and testing the reasonableness of collateral evaluations. That is not to say that lenders are not as enthusiastic about qualifying as many borrowers as possible; it's just that in the last two years, we've seen that even the most sales-oriented companies are worried about data quality.