Alternative finance
Grow lending to underserved customers, with risk you can price and explain.
Alternative lenders win on speed, then lose margin to acquisition cost, fraud and defaults. The Zoral Finance Operating System (fOS) runs the whole customer life, from the lead you buy to the final instalment. Machine-learning models support the key decisions, and affordability is built into every offer.
Profit in alternative lending is made one decision at a time. Zoral runs them all on one platform.
Zoral’s platform and models have powered straight-through digital lending for well over a decade, and run device financing end to end in several countries. References are available in confidence.
Pay for the leads that repay.
Models score leads from each channel and partner before you pay for them, then predict who will complete the application and be approved. Marketing spend moves towards customers likely to repay. Customer acquisition cost falls where the data supports it.
Catch fraud before the money or the device leaves.
Identity is confirmed at source, and documents are checked for signs of tampering. Where your privacy notices and local law allow, Zoral weighs how an application is completed alongside what it says. Suspicious cases go to a named reviewer, not straight to payout.
Say yes to thin-file customers, on evidence.
Where bureau data is thin, decisions draw on telco, bank-statement, open-banking and other alternative data, with the customer’s consent. Every offer passes an affordability check, so the limit fits what the customer can realistically repay.
Manage the customer, not just the application.
The same models set risk-adjusted pricing, limits and terms. They propose increases only where affordability allows, and reductions where risk rises. They predict retention and lifetime value, and revalue the portfolio nightly from bureau data. They guide refinancing and collections.
Grow volume, not headcount, with numbers funders trust.
Routine applications are decided automatically. Exceptions reach the right person with the reason recorded. The platform is designed for high availability on peak sales days. Results are tracked against plan, and the cause is shown when they drift.
Start with the product you lend most. Add the next on the same foundations.
Every product shares one customer record, one set of models and one set of controls. Each new product reuses what the last one built. Your risk team sees the whole customer, not one loan at a time. For multifinance companies and other non-bank lenders, vehicle, device, cash and merchant loans can run as one book, sold through dealers, agents and digital channels alike.
Device financing
Phones and other connected devices financed at the point of sale, in store or online, with a decision while the customer waits. The device itself secures the finance. Where the contract and local law allow, it can be restricted if payments stop and restored when the account is brought up to date. Zoral fOS runs it end to end, from application to collections.
Point-of-sale finance and buy now, pay later
Instalment plans are offered at the checkout of retailers and marketplaces. Fraud screening and affordability checks keep pace with the sale, including on the busiest shopping days. See also BNPL & Point-of-Sale Finance.
Instalment and short-term personal loans
Fully digital loans with verified income and affordability, and risk-based pricing and terms. Repayment plans, refinancing offers and arrears handling are automated.
Credit cards and revolving credit lines
Card and credit-line limits set by policy and models at the start, then reviewed over time: raised only for customers who manage well and can afford more, held or reduced where risk rises.
Vehicle finance
Car and motorcycle finance through dealers or direct, and cash loans secured on a vehicle the customer already owns. Document checks, the title document and the decision sit on one record. See also Auto Finance.
Micro-loans and salary advances
Small loans and advances on earned pay, sized by affordability, with repeat borrowing tracked so that credit bridges a short gap rather than turning into a cycle of borrowing.
Merchant and micro-business finance
Working capital for small merchants and sole traders, using sales, payments and bank-statement data where accounts are thin. See also MSME & SME Finance.
Questions alternative lenders ask us
What data do you use for customers with little or no credit history?
Only what the customer has agreed to and local law allows: bureau data where it exists, plus telco, bank-statement, open-banking, e-commerce and payment data. Each source is weighed by the models and your policy, so one missing source does not rule a customer out. You decide which sources to use in each market.
How do you make sure customers are not lent more than they can repay?
Affordability is part of the decision itself, not a check added at the end. Income and spending are assessed from verified data. Limits and terms are sized to what remains. Later offers, such as top-ups or refinancing, pass the same test. We have worked with clients regulated by the FCA in the UK, the CFPB in the US and the central banks of Malaysia and Thailand. Your policy sets the thresholds, and every outcome is recorded.
Can we explain a decline to the customer, or to a regulator months later?
Yes. Every decision is stored with the data used, the policy and model versions that ran, and reason codes in plain language. Your team can replay how any decision was reached and show what has changed since.
Can we use our own models and our own data scientists’ work?
Yes. Zoral provides a full set of models for each stage of the customer life. The platform also runs your own scorecards and models. New models can run alongside current ones on a share of applications before you switch. Your risk team approves every change.
How does Zoral help prevent application fraud?
Zoral checks several things before money or goods leave. It confirms identity at source and checks documents for alteration and against each other. Where permitted, it uses signals from how the application was completed. Confirmed fraud patterns update your rules. Your fraud team decides what is blocked, reviewed or allowed.
Will the platform hold up on our biggest sales days?
Zoral is designed for high availability and to scale with demand. It already runs high-volume point-of-sale lending. Before launch we agree your expected peaks with you and test against them. Your operations team sees volumes and exceptions as they happen.
Our funding partners and investors want reliable portfolio reporting. What can we give them?
Set the volumes, approval rates, losses and returns you expect from each product. Then track actual performance against them over any period from a day to a year, by product, channel and customer group. When a cohort falls behind plan, the platform shows where and why. Your data can be exported in standard formats for your own reporting.
How are collections handled, and what happens to customers in difficulty?
Reminders go out before and after each due date on the schedule, channels and contract conditions you set. Models predict who is likely to fall behind and which contact or repayment plan is likely to work. Your team, in the office or in the field, reaches the right customers first. For device financing, where the contract and local law allow, a financed device can be restricted after missed payments, with notice to the customer first, and restored as soon as the account is brought up to date. Collections follow rules you approve, including forbearance and support for customers in financial difficulty or vulnerable circumstances. Every contact and arrangement is recorded.
Do we have to replace our loan management system or our app?
No. Zoral can run alongside your existing systems, taking on decisions, documents or collections first. If you are launching a new lender, brand or product line, Zoral can provide the customer journeys and servicing as well. Repayment allocation, restructuring and early-settlement terms are configured in Zoral Product Factory rather than written as code.
How quickly can we launch a new product or enter a new market?
It depends on the product, the data sources available in each market, your integrations and how quickly your team signs off policy. We suggest starting with one product in one market and adding more in regular releases. We give a realistic plan after scoping, not before.
How do you use AI, and who is accountable for decisions?
Machine-learning credit models have been at the heart of Zoral’s lending work for well over a decade. Today we also use AI for Zoral to help our experts and your teams design, check and test products and workflows faster. AI assists; people approve. Where language models are used, you choose them, from enterprise model services to open-weight models your team tunes and hosts. They connect to Zoral fOS through a standard interface (MCP). Client data stays under your governance, within the environments and agreements you control. Automated credit decisions follow policy your business signs off. Every decision is recorded with its reasons.
Where does Zoral run, and who runs it day to day?
Zoral runs on AWS or Azure in your chosen region, or in your own data centre, to suit local data rules. Zoral Document Fabric, which reads your documents, runs in your own AWS or Azure account, or your private cloud, in your region and under your control. The platform is designed for high availability. Our controls are independently audited under SOC 2, with details on the Zoral Trust Portal. Zoral can run and support the platform for you, your own technology team can run it, or we share the work and hand over as your team grows. Your people run the lending operations.
Is Zoral the right size of partner for a fast-growing lender?
Zoral is an independent specialist, founded in 2004, with over 100 projects and 350+ years of combined experience. Senior specialists who built the platform work on client programmes. Your data, product definitions and audit history remain yours and can be exported in standard formats.
Who implements it?
Atelier, Zoral’s consulting and implementation team, works with your teams and, where you choose, with your advisers and systems integrators. The same team includes credit and collections specialists who tune decisions across the customer’s life.
Credit risk and decisioning · Customer lifecycle and collections
Set the growth plan. Improve one decision first.
Bring us your growth targets and the losses you will accept. A senior Zoral specialist will show where acquisition cost, fraud and defaults are taking margin, agree one product or one decision to improve first, and walk you through how the approach would work for your book. Each change is tested on past applications before any customer sees it.
Contact Us
Prefer to pick a time? Schedule a meeting
Automate lending, banking and finance operations.
London
+44 20 3963 2002Miami
We are on Socials