{"id":3861,"date":"2026-02-16T14:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/?p=3861"},"modified":"2026-05-05T06:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:22:27","slug":"retail-lending-in-2026-five-no-bs-predictions-about-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/2026\/02\/16\/retail-lending-in-2026-five-no-bs-predictions-about-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail Lending in 2026: Five No-BS Predictions About AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3861\" class=\"elementor elementor-3861\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36e64808 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36e64808\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2e1be1f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2e1be1f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 25-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">AI is moving fast.  Many lenders are not. <br>Security is non-negotiable. The learning curve is steep. <br>Not everyone is on board. There is fear. <br>This is new for compliance and regulators, too.\n(So please be nice to them!)<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-751270e elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"751270e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 25-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"339\" src=\"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_1.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-3862\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_1.webp 624w, https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_1-300x163.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1ce1a280 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1ce1a280\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 25-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><i>This article was originally published by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankerslab.com\/retail-lending-in-2026-five-no-bs-predictions-about-ai\/\">BankersLab\u00ae<\/a>\u00a0and is reprinted here with permission.<\/i><\/p><p>Throughout 2025, BankersLab partnered with clients to apply AI-driven simulations to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/2xgH8bOgFNA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">real-world lending challenges<\/a>. These predictions reflect lessons from those engagements and from our work with industry\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankerslab.com\/insightlab-press-release\/\">partners<\/a>.<\/p><p>Here\u2019s what we think will actually change next year for retail bankers and lending\u2014and how to act while sidestepping the hype.<\/p><h4><strong>1) \u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/news.broadcom.com\/artificial-intelligence\/private-ai-innovation-in-financial-services-combined-with-security-and-compliance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Private AI<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u201d becomes the default\u2014not a nice-to-have<\/strong><\/h4><p><strong>What you\u2019ll feel:<\/strong> Your sensitive data and models run inside your walls (or a locked-down private cloud). Risk, credit, and customer-facing teams will only green-light tools that meet that bar.<\/p><p><strong>The hard truth:<\/strong> \u201cPrivate\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201csafe.\u201d You can still end up over-dependent on one vendor, with opaque model updates and audit gaps.<br \/>Do this now:<\/p><ul><li>Make \u201cno public data egress\u201d a contract clause.<\/li><li>Log who used which model, on what data, and why a decision was made.<\/li><li>Negotiate exit ramps\u2014portable prompts, portable embeddings, portable data.<\/li><\/ul><blockquote><h5><strong>See the future. Shape the outcome. Learn how our AI-powered simulations can drive your 2026 lending performance.<\/strong><\/h5><\/blockquote><h4><strong>2) <\/strong><strong>Targeted wins beat grand plans\u2014because your P&amp;L is tired of waiting<\/strong><\/h4><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-74e314c2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"74e314c2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><p><strong>What you\u2019ll feel:<\/strong>\u00a0Small, sharp use cases finally stick: delinquency outreach that actually collects, fraud alert triage that cuts noise, frontline assistants that end calls faster and happier.<br \/><strong>The hard truth:<\/strong>\u00a0Big \u201cAI transformation\u201d programs will keep dying in pilot purgatory. Time saved doesn\u2019t equal money saved unless you redesign the work.<br \/><strong>Do this now:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><p>Pick 3\u20135\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/convin.ai\/blog\/ai-in-banking-examples\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">use cases<\/a>\u00a0with 12-week pilots and a single success metric each (e.g., dollars collected per contact, false-positive rate, average handle time).<\/p><\/li><li><p>Pre-commit to how you\u2019ll bank the benefit (shrink queues, reassign work, reduce overtime).<\/p><\/li><\/ul><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3) The workforce splits: power users vs. everyone else<\/strong><\/h4><p><strong>What you\u2019ll feel:<\/strong>\u00a0A visible cohort becomes scary-productive with vetted AI tools. They know the shortcuts, the prompts, and the controls. Everyone else watches.<br \/><strong>The hard truth:<\/strong>\u00a0If you don\u2019t create tiers of access and training, you\u2019ll get shadow tools, uneven quality, and audit headaches.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/gloat.com\/blog\/ai-workforce-trends\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Do this now<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><p>Launch a \u201cPower User Program\u201d with selection criteria, training hours, and KPIs.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Give power users the better tools first\u2014and hold them to measurable outcomes.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Create a new function\u2014call it \u201cagent ops\u201d\u2014to own prompt libraries, testing, and rollout.<\/p><\/li><\/ul><p><strong>4) Governance moves from paper to daily habit<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1829be6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1829be6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><p><strong>What you\u2019ll feel:<\/strong>\u00a0Reason codes, bias checks, vendor logs, and model change logs become routine. Not annual exercises\u2014weekly ones. Supervisors will ask for them.<br \/><strong>The hard truth:<\/strong>\u00a0Compliance theater will get called out. If you can\u2019t show lineage (which model, which data, which version), you\u2019ll pause or unwind launches.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grantthornton.ie\/insights\/factsheets\/ai-banking-risk-regulation-governance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Do this now<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><p>Keep a living model inventory and a simple, shared change log.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Treat third-party models like critical vendors: resilience testing, concentration risk, kill switches.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Put humans in the loop where harm is real (credit decisions, fraud denies, collections scripts).<\/p><\/li><\/ul><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5) From dashboards to decisions: simulate before you ship with\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankerslab.com\/workshops\/\"><strong>BankersLab<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankerslab.com\/insightlab\/\"><strong>InsightLab<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0Simulations<\/strong><\/h4><p><strong>What you\u2019ll feel:<\/strong>\u00a0Before changing pricing, credit policy, or campaign spend, teams run \u201ctest-before-deploy\u201d simulations to estimate roll-rate, churn, and P&amp;L impact\u2014then pilot only the winners.<br \/><strong>The hard truth:<\/strong>\u00a0If they aren\u2019t back-tested against history and monitored in production, they will mislead you.<br \/><strong>Do this now:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><p>Make simulation a gate in your change process for pricing, underwriting, and collections capacity.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Back-test against old vintages; require confidence bands and failure cases.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Pilot narrowly, measure ruthlessly, and promote only what beats current policy.<\/p><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-978f5db e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"978f5db\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-57264eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"57264eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"536\" height=\"373\" src=\"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_2.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3863\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_2.webp 536w, https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_2-300x209.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c23388c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"c23388c\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08ae3a4 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"08ae3a4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 25-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-divider{--divider-border-style:none;--divider-border-width:1px;--divider-color:#0c0d0e;--divider-icon-size:20px;--divider-element-spacing:10px;--divider-pattern-height:24px;--divider-pattern-size:20px;--divider-pattern-url:none;--divider-pattern-repeat:repeat-x}.elementor-widget-divider .elementor-divider{display:flex}.elementor-widget-divider .elementor-divider__text{font-size:15px;line-height:1;max-width:95%}.elementor-widget-divider .elementor-divider__element{margin:0 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.elementor-divider-separator:after,.elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern:not(.elementor-widget-divider--view-line) .elementor-divider-separator:before,.elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern:not([class*=elementor-widget-divider--view]) .elementor-divider-separator{width:100%;min-height:var(--divider-pattern-height);-webkit-mask-size:var(--divider-pattern-size) 100%;mask-size:var(--divider-pattern-size) 100%;-webkit-mask-repeat:var(--divider-pattern-repeat);mask-repeat:var(--divider-pattern-repeat);background-color:var(--divider-color);-webkit-mask-image:var(--divider-pattern-url);mask-image:var(--divider-pattern-url)}.elementor-widget-divider--no-spacing{--divider-pattern-size:auto}.elementor-widget-divider--bg-round{--divider-pattern-repeat:round}.rtl .elementor-widget-divider .elementor-divider__text{direction:rtl}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-divider,.e-con>.elementor-widget-divider{width:var(--container-widget-width,100%);--flex-grow:var(--container-widget-flex-grow)}<\/style>\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5bdbf6a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5bdbf6a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Your 2026 Checklist<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-638e9dd e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"638e9dd\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d0d587 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8d0d587\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Security first:<\/strong>\u00a0Private deployment, no data egress, full decision traceability.<\/li><li><strong>Short list of wins:<\/strong>\u00a03\u20135 targeted use cases with 12-week clocks and one metric that hits the P&amp;L.<\/li><li><strong>People plan:<\/strong>\u00a0Power User Program + \u201cagent ops\u201d to industrialize how AI gets built, tested, and rolled out.<\/li><li><strong>Everyday governance:<\/strong>\u00a0Inventory, reason codes, bias checks, vendor logs, change logs.<\/li><li><strong>Decide with simulation:<\/strong>\u00a0Test policy changes in a sandbox, pilot the winners, retire the rest.<\/li><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53acacb elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"53acacb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/1_3-rjhhdfu2flghn325srqym1e5gb9m7gn3oevwa0sgl8.webp\" title=\"1_3\" alt=\"1_3\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4fa0301 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4fa0301\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AI is moving fast. Many lenders are not. Security is non-negotiable. The learning curve is steep. Not everyone is on board. There is fear. This is new for compliance and regulators, too. (So please be nice to them!) This article was originally published by\u00a0BankersLab\u00ae\u00a0and is reprinted here with permission. Throughout 2025, BankersLab partnered with clients [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","two_page_speed":{"previous_score":{"status":"error_no_score"},"current_score":{"desktop_score":94,"desktop_tti":"1.3\u00a0","mobile_score":69,"mobile_tti":"6.9\u00a0","date":"27.03.2026 09:31:05 am","status":"completed"}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[71,51,53,55],"class_list":["post-3861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking-technology","tag-al","tag-lending","tag-profit-loss","tag-retail-lending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3861"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3972,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions\/3972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smtechglobal.com\/thai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}