As consumer appetite for new loans continues to decline amid a fluid, but elevated, interest rate environment, lenders are turning to tech partnerships for tools that can help bolster underwriting portfolios.

Research conducted earlier this year by IntraFi found that roughly 78% of the 597 bank executives surveyed estimated that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by at least 25 basis points or more before the end of 2023. More than 80% of respondents also estimated that the Fed would lower interest rates no sooner than the third quarter of 2024.

At the helms of the more tech-minded credit unions, mortgage lenders and financial technology firms, leaders are adapting products such as "soft check" credit scoring, artificial intelligence-powered bots to streamline application reviewal and more.

Below are examples of these tools in action.