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Aloan vs Casca
Two AI approaches to commercial lending automation. Aloan overlays your existing LOS for deep underwriting automation. Casca replaces your LOS entirely for end-to-end small business origination.
How do Aloan and Casca compare?
Aloan is an AI-powered underwriting automation platform that sits on top of your existing LOS, automating financial spreading, document analysis, risk flagging, and credit memo generation with source-document citations. Casca (formerly Cascading AI) is a YC-backed, AI-native loan origination system that replaces your existing LOS to automate the entire small business lending workflow from application to funding. Both serve community banks, but they solve different problems.
- Deploy in days — no LOS replacement needed
- Every number cites exact source page & line
- Deep analysis — reads every line for buried risks
- Post-booking covenant monitoring
- Built for complex multi-entity commercial deals
- AI-native loan origination platform
- Strong borrower-facing digital experience
- USDA lending specialization
- Requires full LOS replacement
- No post-booking monitoring
YC-backed · $33M raised · San Francisco
When should you choose Aloan vs Casca?
Choose Aloan when:
- →Your bottleneck is underwriting, not origination workflow
- →You want to keep your existing LOS
- →Source-document auditability matters for your examiners
- →You handle complex commercial and CRE deals, not just SBA
- →You need post-booking covenant monitoring
- →You want to pilot on a few deals before committing
Choose Casca when:
- →You want to replace your legacy LOS entirely
- →Borrower-facing digital experience is the top priority
- →Your focus is primarily SBA and small business lending
- →You do USDA lending and need specialized compliance tools
- →You want a single AI-native system from application to funding
Detailed feature comparison
Architecture & Implementation
| Feature | Aloan | Casca |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Overlay on existing LOS | Full LOS replacement |
| Implementation Time | Days | 6–12 months |
| Migration Required | None | Full data migration and workflow redesign |
| Pilot Capability | Run alongside existing system on select deals | All-or-nothing LOS replacement |
| Change Management | Minimal — enhances existing workflows | Significant — entire team retraining |
Underwriting & Document Analysis
| Feature | Aloan | Casca |
|---|---|---|
| Document Analysis Depth | AI reads every line — surfaces buried risks | Extraction-focused — speed over depth |
| Source-Document Citations | Every number traces to exact page and line | Not emphasized in their materials |
| Financial Spreading | Automated with full audit trail | Automated spreading with instant ratios |
| Credit Memo Generation | Complete memos with cited sources | Document generation (template-based) |
| Risk Flagging | Auto-detects NSF fees, UCC liens, revenue decline, footnotes | Not specifically highlighted |
| Credit Policy Ingestion | AI reads policy docs and auto-configures | Manual configuration |
Borrower Experience
| Feature | Aloan | Casca |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Application Portal | Branded intake portal for document upload | Full digital application with 3x conversion |
| AI Borrower Q&A | Not available | 24/7 AI loan assistant |
| Automated Follow-up | Document request reminders | 2–3 minute automated response time |
| Borrower Portal | Document upload and status | Full application tracking portal |
Lending Focus & Scope
| Feature | Aloan | Casca |
|---|---|---|
| Complex Commercial Deals | Built for multi-entity, guarantor analysis | Optimized for small business / SBA |
| SBA / USDA Lending | Supported (underwriting analysis) | Deep specialization with automated gov forms |
| Post-Booking Monitoring | Covenant monitoring, annual reviews, early warning | Origination only — stops at booking |
| CRE Lending | Rent roll analysis, NOI, DSCR, LTV, debt yield | General commercial |
| KYB Verification | Not built-in | 40+ automated KYB checks |
Trust & Compliance
| Feature | Aloan | Casca |
|---|---|---|
| Examiner Readiness | Source-cited audit trails — one-click verification | SOC 2 certified |
| AI Positioning | AI-assisted (human decides, AI prepares) | "Superhuman underwriting" / "automated decisions" |
| Regulatory Language | Careful compliance-aware positioning | Bold claims that may concern regulators |
The fundamental difference: Overlay vs. Replacement
The core question: Is your bank looking to replace its entire LOS, or make its existing underwriting team faster and more thorough?
Aloan: Overlay approach
Aloan sits on top of your existing loan origination system. Your team keeps using their familiar tools while Aloan automates the document-heavy underwriting work — spreading, analysis, risk flagging, and credit memo generation. No migration, no workflow disruption, live in days.
Casca: Replacement approach
Casca replaces your existing LOS with an AI-native platform that handles the entire loan lifecycle from digital application to funding. It's a complete system swap — more comprehensive for small business origination but with significantly higher implementation cost, time, and risk.
Why auditability matters
In regulated lending, examiners need to verify where every number came from. Aloan's source-document citations — exact page and line for every extracted figure — are a critical differentiator. Casca's messaging emphasizes speed; Aloan emphasizes speed AND traceability.
AI-assisted vs. automated decisions
Aloan positions as AI-assisted underwriting where the human makes the decision and the AI prepares the analysis. Casca claims "superhuman underwriting" and "automated decisions" — language that may concern regulators who scrutinize automated decisioning in lending.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Aloan and Casca?
Aloan is an AI-powered underwriting automation platform that overlays your existing loan origination system, focusing on deep document analysis, financial spreading with source citations, and credit memo generation. Casca (formerly Cascading AI) is an AI-native loan origination system that replaces your existing LOS entirely, focusing on end-to-end small business loan origination from application to funding.
Is Aloan or Casca better for community banks?
It depends on the bank's primary need. If the bottleneck is underwriting — manual spreading, document analysis, and credit memo preparation — Aloan solves that faster with less disruption. If the bank wants to replace its entire legacy LOS for primarily small business and SBA lending, Casca offers a more comprehensive origination solution.
Does Aloan require replacing my existing loan origination system?
No. Aloan is designed as an overlay that sits on top of your existing LOS — whether that is Abrigo, nCino, Baker Hill, Finastra, or any other system. There is no data migration, no LOS replacement, and no workflow disruption.
How does Aloan compare to Casca on implementation time?
Aloan deploys in days because it works on top of existing systems with no migration required. Casca implementations typically take 6–12 months because the platform replaces your entire LOS, requiring data migration, workflow redesign, staff retraining, and integration configuration.
What does Aloan do that Casca does not?
Aloan provides source-document auditability where every extracted number traces to the exact page and line of the original document. Aloan also offers post-booking covenant monitoring, automated annual reviews, and handles complex multi-entity commercial structures with guarantor analysis. Casca focuses on origination and stops at loan booking.
What does Casca do that Aloan does not?
Casca provides a complete borrower-facing digital application experience with AI-powered Q&A, automated follow-up, and a borrower portal. Casca also offers native KYB verification, built-in credit bureau integration, and USDA lending specialization with automated government form generation.
Can I use Aloan for SBA lending?
Yes. Aloan automates the underwriting analysis for SBA loans including financial spreading, cash flow analysis, and credit memo generation. However, Casca has deeper SBA-specific features including USDA program compliance and automated government form generation. For banks doing SBA alongside conventional commercial lending, Aloan covers both.
See Aloan on one of your actual deals
Upload your documents. Get a cited credit memo back in minutes. No LOS migration. No commitment.
No setup fees · Deploy in days · Works with your existing LOS