Afterburner AI and LoanOptions.ai have entered into a strategic alliance aimed at transforming the digital lending landscape for mortgage advisers across Australia and New Zealand.

The collaboration brings together two businesses that have been independently acknowledged for their contributions to AI-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The new partnership will deliver integrated, end-to-end AI-enabled solutions intended to enhance productivity, compliance, and profitability for advisers, brokers, and aggregators throughout both countries.

AI workflow integration

The alliance leverages each company’s technology to create a comprehensive workflow designed for financial professionals. LoanOptions.ai’s white-label HAILO system manages the client’s loan journey from onboarding through application in as little as five minutes. Once a completed and verified application is produced, it is automatically forwarded into customer relationship management systems used by mortgage aggregators.

After receiving the application, Afterburner AI’s technology carries out the subsequent back-end administrative processes. This includes automating serviceability checks, document refilling, and compliance requirements, which traditionally require significant manual administrative effort from human advisers.

According to the companies, the integration is intended to streamline what has typically been a paperwork-heavy and time-consuming lending process, creating a single workflow for advisers by combining application management with back-office automation.

Comments from leadership

“Financial service professionals across Australasia face the same challenge: too much time lost to admin. We started Afterburner to solve this key issue and have been growing fast in response to demand from the market. By aligning with LoanOptions.ai, we’re now able to not only double-down on our mission, but expand our capabilities to deliver a seamless end-to-end digital lending experience, from application to submission, for advisers, brokers, and aggregators across New Zealand and Australia.”

This perspective was shared by Afterburner Co-founder, Geoff Christopher, in support of the alliance.

Providing additional context, LoanOptions.ai Founder and Chief Executive Officer Julian Fayad said:

“This alliance is about bringing two complementary technology businesses together to eliminate friction from the loan process. We saw an opportunity to connect our industry-leading application and onboarding technology with Afterburner’s powerful administrative automation tools. Our aim is to empower advisers with the tools they need to respond to clients faster, with greater accuracy, and in full compliance that is industry leading.”

Potential impact

The partnership is expected by the companies to enhance digital lending productivity, expedite settlements, and improve experiences for end customers. Both organisations have committed to honouring their prior partner commitments and to maintaining their respective intellectual property, aiming for a collaboration that extends benefits broadly across the industry.

Data provided by Afterburner indicates that financial service professionals have already used its tools over 500,000 times, with features tested more than 10,000 times. The firm claims conservative time savings of approximately 4,000 hours to date. Key system features include automated bank handover forms, financial statement analysis, and a bank policy question and answer function, with automation reducing some processes from up to an hour to only a few seconds. Afterburner Generation 2.0, which will incorporate additional features such as iOS call-recording integration and unified data management, is expected to offer further productivity benefits and compatibility with a range of customer relationship platforms.

LoanOptions.ai has supported more than 200,000 customers with the loan process since 2020, working directly with consumers as well as leveraging its technology with over 2,000 business partners. Since launching in New Zealand in late 2023, the company has helped over 7,000 clients complete transactions with a network of more than 30 lenders. Its HAILO application platform, on the market since February 2025, enables brokers and advisers to complete key documentation and verification steps – including property reports, identity checks, credit reports and compliance paperwork – in under five minutes.

The alliance sees both companies respecting current obligations to other industry partners as part of the agreement. The companies have indicated that the collaboration will remain open to further developments, with new technology and feature releases planned for future phases.