I run our specialist team. People sometimes ask me what those ten-minute calls actually consist of — whether they’re scripted, whether they’re really just data entry, whether the specialist is even making a decision. Fair questions. Here’s what actually happens.

Before the call (about 60 seconds of prep)

The specialist sees the basics you submitted: loan amount, term, purpose, monthly income, employment status. They open a quick view of standard rate scenarios for someone with your profile. They’re not making decisions yet — they’re getting oriented before dialing.

The first two minutes

Introductions. The specialist confirms what loan amount and purpose you submitted, asks if anything’s changed since you filled out the form, and asks an open-ended question about what you’re trying to accomplish with the loan. Not in a sales-y way — just to understand context. A $10,000 loan for a kitchen renovation gets a different conversation than a $10,000 loan to consolidate three credit cards, and both deserve real attention.

Minutes three through six: details that matter

The specialist asks for what they need to actually quote a real rate, not a marketing-floor rate. That’s usually: monthly take-home income (not just gross), how long you’ve been at your current job, any major life changes in the last year (new job, divorce, medical event, etc.), and whether you have a co-borrower or are applying solo.

If your purpose is debt consolidation, they’ll ask for the balances and APRs on your current debts — because consolidation only makes sense if the new loan actually lowers your total interest costs in dollars, and we want to confirm that before recommending it.

Minutes seven through nine: the rate conversation

The specialist quotes your actual rate, term, and monthly payment based on what they’ve learned. They’ll walk you through the total cost of borrowing, not just the monthly payment. If you’re consolidating, they’ll show you the dollar-and-cents comparison with your current debts. If the math doesn’t favor consolidation, they’ll tell you that, even though it means we don’t make the loan.

You can ask anything here — about the rate, about why it landed where it did, about whether a different term would change things, about what would help you qualify for a better rate later. The specialist’s job is to answer plainly, not to upsell.

The last minute: yes, no, or think about it

You’re not committing to anything on the call. If the rate works for you, the specialist unlocks the next step in our online application — identity verification and bank linking via Plaid — and you can finish that on your own schedule. If you want to think about it, the rate is held for 14 days. If it’s not right, the call ends and there’s no obligation.

Why we still do it this way

Because the data we get in those ten minutes — the context, the explanation, the change-in-circumstance information — is the same data that lets us approve borrowers other lenders won’t. The cost of a real conversation is ten minutes of a real person’s time. The benefit is a loan decision that’s actually right for you, not just whatever the scorecard spit out. That trade-off is the whole company.

— Jared Brooks, VP People