First Northern Credit Union in Chicago, US, has partnered with Appli, a Utah-based fintech founded by POPi/o co-founder Tim Pranger in 2024, for its AI-powered financial calculator technology to provide improved loan guidance for members.
Under the agreement, First Northern will implement Appli’s Smart Financial Calculator service this month, replacing a prior five-year agreement with an undisclosed vendor.
Appli’s calculators combine real-time financial analysis with generative AI to provide personalised loan payment estimates based on users’ actual credit profiles. The service tracks metrics like loan amounts, debt-to-income ratios and estimated credit scores to offer transparent guidance on approval chances and rates.
“With our current calculators, someone might see they qualify for an $850 monthly payment on a $40,000 car, but when they apply, they learn their actual payment is $1,200 because they don’t qualify for our best rate,” explains Beth Small, First Northern’s director of marketing.
“Appli’s AI helps give people a near-precise, realistic picture upfront, and if they don’t like what they see, at least they understand why the rate or payment looks different than they expected,” Small continues.
Other recent industry adopters of the service include First Source Federal Credit Union in New York and Granite Credit Union in Utah.
First Northern was initially created in 1944 to serve employees of Commonwealth Edison Company. Today, the credit union manages more than $330 million in assets for over 22,000 members throughout northern Illinois, with a lending suite spanning mortgages, home and auto loans, debt consolidation programmes, credit cards and share-secured loans.
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
