Alliant Credit Union has entered a partnership with Blend Labs Inc. to roll out digital mortgage and home equity lending capabilities, the two companies said.
Based in Chicago, Alliant Credit Union serves nearly 1 million members and holds approximately $20 billion in assets, with more than 90 years of operation. The deal will bring Blend's end-to-end digital home lending platform to Alliant, covering everything from instant mortgage prequalification through full application origination to digital closing.
Among the features included are automated pre-approvals, income and asset verification, identity and fraud screening, real-time application status tracking, and digital closing workflows. The initial rollout will cover traditional mortgage lending, with plans to expand the platform to home equity products — including Home Equity Lines of Credit — over time.
Alliant said it aims to reduce HELOC closing times to 15 days or less once the platform is live. The credit union also indicated that AI-powered document extraction and population capabilities will be integrated into the platform at a later stage, intended to reduce manual data entry by lenders and members alike.
"By providing automated pre-qualification within minutes, we are helping members move quickly and confidently in a competitive housing market," Dan Bauer, head of residential lending at Alliant Credit Union, said in a statement.
Mike Dobbins, CEO of Alliant Credit Union, said the partnership is part of a broader push to overhaul member experience across the institution.
"We're rethinking every experience our members have with us. Home lending is one of the first places members will see that vision come to life, but it won't be the last," Dobbins said.
Blend Labs, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BLND, has positioned itself as a leading digital mortgage platform provider, serving a growing roster of banks and credit unions seeking to modernize loan origination workflows. The Alliant deal marks another step in the credit union sector's adoption of fintech platforms designed to replace paper-heavy, manual lending processes.
No financial terms of the partnership were disclosed.
