KeyBank Accelerates Small Business Lending With New Digital Capabilities

CLEVELAND, June 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyBank today announced the acquisition of a digital lending platform for small businesses created by Bolstr. The fintech software, expected to be implemented in 2018, will enable KeyBank to provide faster and easier access both to SBA loans and to traditional capital for business owners.

This move accelerates KeyBank's ability to serve small businesses by expanding their access to capital and quickly delivering credit solutions through an online application process and enhanced digital capabilities.  

"KeyBank is deeply committed to helping small businesses thrive and to providing them with the funding they need to grow," said Jamie Warder, Head of KeyBank Business Banking. "Bolstr's technology transforms the small business lending process and allows us to more efficiently serve small businesses for their SBA and traditional lending needs."

Founded in 2010, Bolstr was designed to provide flexible loans that are specially tailored to small business owners. With Bolstr's technology, KeyBank will be able to digitally accept and process loan applications significantly faster, greatly reducing the time and paperwork it takes to process these requests.

"We are excited to work with an organization that is dedicated to helping communities and small businesses prosper," said Charlie Tribbett, co-founder of Bolstr. "By combining our digital expertise and KeyBank's industry knowledge, business owners will receive exceptional service and the efficient lending experience they need to be successful."

"KeyBank is continually looking for fintech relationships with services that make it easy for clients to do business, and for KeyBank to deliver real financial solutions," said Jason Rudman, KeyBank's Director of Consumer Payments and Digital Banking. "We know small business owners appreciate the ease of digital banking to help them grow their business and our focus is on finding ways to expand our digital platform to facilitate that growth."

Terms of the purchase have not been disclosed.

In 2017, KeyBank launched a $16.5 billion National Community Benefits Plan, including a $2.5 billion commitment to small business lending over five years. KeyBank is a top 10 SBA 7 (a) lender nationally, with the unique ability to offer clients the whole bank, from cash flow to commercial real estate to wealth management solutions.

About KeyCorp
KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $137.0 billion at March 31, 2018. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,200 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

About Bolstr
Bolstr is a digital lending and SaaS platform where small businesses can quickly access financing from institutional and retail accredited investors. Founded out of the mission to enhance access to capital for Main Street, our team specializes in financial technology that eliminates paperwork and enables faster access to credit. Since 2010 Bolstr has been working directly with borrowers to optimize, and streamline the experience of applying for credit -- our SaaS offering allows Banks to capitalize on this expertise across both their consumer and small business lending franchises.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "outlook," "goal," "objective," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "project," "believe," "estimate" and other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent management's current expectations and forecasts regarding future events. If underlying assumptions prove to be inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties arise, actual results could vary materially from these projections or expectations. Factors that could cause Key's actual results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in KeyCorp's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as well as in KeyCorp's subsequent SEC filings, all of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on Key's website (www.key.com/ir) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website (www.sec.gov). Forward looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Key does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events.

NEWSROOM:   www.Key.com/newsroom

SOURCE KeyCorp