Stearns Bank is partnering with Truepic, a provider of digital image provenance and authenticity, to innovate and accelerate its equipment lending to thousands of beneficiaries around the United States. Stearns Bank has deployed Truepic’s Vision platform to ensure authenticity of media at the point of capture, allowing real-time inspections of equipment finance borrowers anywhere in the world. With this innovation, Stearns Bank has cut its borrowers’ wait times by 4.8 days per loan or 3,746 days collectively this year.

Stearns Bank is partnering Truepic to bring remote inspections, reduced wait times to loans. The platform’s patented fraud detection, image provenance and authentication technology identifies and preemptively reduces fraudulent activity and has cut collective costs by more than $100,000 this year for Stearns Bank. In addition, the technology empowers Stearns Bank to conduct inspections remotely and drive down transportation emissions associated with traditional oversight. In 2021, Stearns Bank will have prevented the emissions of more than 20,000 pounds of CO2 associated with equipment finance inspections — the equivalent of more than 450 trees’ absorption capacity.

“It’s encouraging to partner with a company whose values align with those of Stearns Bank,” Jill Molitor, director of credit and fraud strategy at Stearns Bank, said. “Truepic’s use of technology, coupled with their environmental focus, reinforce Stearns Bank’s commitment to surpass customer expectations with thorough safety, soundness and a sense of urgency.”

Stearns Bank has conducted authenticated virtual inspections with the Vision platform in hundreds of cities in all 50 states and Canada. Stearns Bank plans to expand its use of Truepic’s technology across multiple lines of operations to amplify and multiply its many cost, time, risk and environmental benefits.

“Stearns Bank has been an innovator and was one of the earliest adopters of image authentication technology in the lending and banking industry. We are delighted that our technology can help drive immediate benefits to the bank’s customers and important CO2 reductions for society. We believe this is the future of digital banking and all trust transactions online, and this is a wonderful start,” Craig Stack, founder and president of Truepic, said.