Kirill Tsarev: 99% of Retail Loans Today Are Issued on the Basis of AI Models

Until a few years ago, taking a bank loan was associated with bureaucracy. Today, the whole process can take only 2–3 minutes. Borrowers often receive money on applications submitted through their personal accounts on bank websites or in mobile apps. This would not have been possible without the introduction of AI models into the algorithms of financial services.

Sber is one of the market leaders in the field of banking innovations. Over 107 million people use its services every month. At the same time, more than 81 million customers per month get access to them through a mobile app. The First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, Kirill Tsarev, speaks about AI technologies that the bank is implementing in its work and how they affect the quality of its services.

Lending Is a Key Financial Service for the Population

Millions of bank customers are interested in lending. This refers to both consumer lending and targeted mortgage lending. According to Kirill Tsarev, Sberbank relies on AI models in 99% of cases of issuing funds.

Borrowers do not have to wait long for a decision—the consideration of applications is largely automated. The client can get an answer within a few minutes. Kirill Tsarev says that the system responsible for reviewing applications can process up to 1.2 million requests daily.

AI Models Used When Applying for a Mortgage

Innovations are also actively used in mortgage lending. For instance, at the Artificial Intelligence Journey conference, a recommendation model of the DomClick online real estate marketplace was presented. According to Kirill Tsarev, Sberbank already uses AI models in all key mortgage lending processes. In particular, it creates recommendation systems that can simplify the search for suitable real estate.

The bank also managed to introduce:

1. AI technologies at all stages of mortgage registration—from the object choice to making a deal
2. AI-based solutions in systems that control the quality of posted content and improve robot assistants
3. Computer vision systems for processing documents—this enables you to attend to customers faster

Speaking about the innovations being developed right now in Sber, Kirill Tsarev noted the personalization of customer offers, enhanced security algorithms in the fight against fraudsters and new solutions in consulting. According to the top manager, the introduction of AI in each of these areas increases the reliability of processes and the level of customer service.

“Mortgages should be fast, simple and convenient. It is necessary to exclude from this process all actions that fail to help our clients but take away their time and energy. And the main assistant here is artificial intelligence,” the top manager emphasizes.

AI in the Solutions and Services of the Bank

Innovations affect not only lending. They are applied in every direction of Sber’s work. Thus, contactless payment instruments have demonstrated their effectiveness. Other Sber services have also been developed based on AI models. Kirill Tsarev has repeatedly mentioned, for example, remote video translation, which works with sign language. This solution makes the bank’s services more accessible to people with hearing impairments.