nCino and Parlay Launch AI-Native Lending Integration for 1,400 SBA Lenders

Parlay and nCino have partnered to automate the Small Business Administration (SBA) lending process for 1,400 American lenders. By integrating Parlay’s AI-native Loan Intelligence System directly into nCino’s commercial banking platform, the duo aims to eliminate decades of manual paperwork, significantly accelerating capital access for small businesses that often fall outside traditional credit boxes.

What was announced

The partnership introduces a direct connection between Parlay’s Loan Intelligence System (LIS) and nCino’s Commercial and Small Business Solutions. This integration is designed to handle the front-end complexities of SBA lending, including intake, eligibility screening, and deal structuring, through a one-click handoff. By the time a banker opens a file, the agentic technology has already processed the preliminary data, which Parlay reports can reduce the manual effort required to reach a credit-ready file by up to 80%.

The integration is currently live and has already processed over $500 million in SBA loan inquiries during 2026. Early adopters include First Internet Bank, a nationwide SBA lender. Under the terms of the agreement, nCino will act as a reseller, offering and supporting Parlay’s LIS as an offering for its customer base, which includes community banks and credit unions looking to scale their SBA programs without expanding back-office headcount. Parlay will also continue to serve the broader SBA market independently. The solution is aimed at the 1,400 SBA lenders in the United States, targeting a sector that contributes 43% of the country’s GDP but frequently struggles with the administrative burden of government-backed lending.

"Hundreds of financial institutions nationwide have told us they want to scale their SBA lending programs. Partnering with nCino enables Parlay to provide a powerful, complementary, and integrated offering: no rip and replace required, so more small businesses across the country gain faster access to capital."

Alex McLeod, Parlay Co-Founder and CEO

The companies involved

nCino, Inc. is a prominent player in the cloud banking space, listed on NASDAQ as NCNO. The company provides an "agentic AI" banking platform designed to modernize financial institutions by streamlining lending, account opening, and portfolio management. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina, nCino has established a significant global footprint, working with a wide range of financial institutions from global Tier 1 banks to local community lenders. The company's platform is built to provide a single, cloud-based operating system for the entire banking enterprise.

Parlay Finance, operating as Parlay, provides an AI-native Loan Intelligence System specifically tailored for the complexities of the SBA lending market. The company focuses on the "agentic" application of AI, where software takes proactive steps in deal structuring and eligibility verification rather than just acting as a passive data repository. By focusing on the specific regulatory and documentation requirements of the Small Business Administration, Parlay positions itself as a specialized layer that sits atop broader commercial banking systems to solve the "last mile" problems of niche government-backed loan products.

What FF News has reported before

nCino has been a frequent subject of coverage at FF News, with 43 previous stories documenting its expansion into various lending verticals. In September 2026, FF News reported on how Vesta Integrates AI-Powered LOS with nCino to Automate Mortgage Workflows, highlighting a similar trend of specialized integrations. Earlier that year, the platform’s reach into agricultural finance was noted when Lamina Expands nCino Integration, Supporting farm Credit Bank of Texas. The company has also seen significant European adoption, such as when Raiffeisenbankengruppe Oesterreich (excluding Raiffeisen Bank International) Selects nCino to Modernise Corporate Lending Across Its Nationwide Network. Furthermore, nCino’s internal AI developments were covered in April, specifically how the nCino Analyst Digital Partner Cuts Commercial Relationship Review Time by Up to 70%.

What this means

This partnership signals a shift in how "agentic AI" is moving from a buzzword to a functional utility in highly regulated lending sectors. For the SBA market, the bottleneck has rarely been a lack of capital, but rather the administrative friction that makes small-dollar, government-backed loans unprofitable for many banks. By automating the eligibility and structuring phases, nCino and Parlay are putting pressure on traditional core providers who have struggled to offer the same level of granular automation. The success of this integration will likely determine if other niche lending categories—such as agricultural or green energy loans—receive similar specialized AI treatment across the industry.