What Is Portal Intake?
Portal intake refers to collecting documents and application data via a secure web form. In MCA and small business lending, brokers and ISOs often prefer email, but some funders provide portals to centralize submissions.
Portal intake typically appears as an alternative to email-driven workflows. Operators use it to standardize submissions, reduce email volume, and make sure files arrive in a consistent structure.
How Does Portal Intake Work?
Portal intake follows a straightforward workflow.
- Upload stage: A broker or ISO uploads an application packet through a web form.
- Data capture: The portal collects documents such as applications, bank statements, and IDs.
- Routing: The submission is sent into the processing system or CRM.
- Confirmation: The sender receives acknowledgment that the packet was received.
In Heron, portal intake is supported as an option alongside email.
- Submission intake: Brokers or ISOs upload packets into a simple web form connected to Heron.
- Automated checks: Heron scrubs the uploaded files for completeness, duplicates, and risk signals.
- Structured output: Clean data fields are written back into the CRM just like with email intake.
- Next steps: Complete packets move to underwriting, and incomplete ones trigger missing-info requests.
This makes sure teams that use portals benefit from the same automation Heron applies to email.
Why Is Portal Intake Important?
For brokers and funders, portal intake reduces email overload and standardizes how documents are collected. It gives ISOs a clear path to submit deals without relying on inbox rules.
Heron makes portal intake valuable by applying the same scrubbing, classification, and CRM write-back automation as with email submissions. This consistency improves speed, accuracy, and scale regardless of intake method.
Common Use Cases
Portal intake is often used by teams that want structured submissions outside of shared inboxes.
- Allowing ISOs to upload applications through a secure form.
- Collecting bank statements directly in a portal rather than as email attachments.
- Standardizing file formats across brokers by setting portal requirements.
- Reducing inbox volume by routing deals straight through a web form.
- Feeding portal submissions into Heron for scrubbing and CRM updates.
FAQs About Portal Intake
How does portal intake differ from email intake?
Email intake captures packets from shared inboxes, while portal intake allows uploads through a web form. Both methods flow into Heron, where submissions are scrubbed and written back to the CRM.
What outputs should teams expect from portal intake?
Teams receive complete packets with structured CRM fields just like with email intake. The difference is only in how the submission arrives.
Can incomplete submissions be handled through portal intake?
Yes, Heron detects missing documents in portal submissions the same way it does for email. Missing-info requests are triggered automatically to complete the packet.