What Is Straight-Through Processing?
Straight-through processing (STP) refers to a fully automated workflow where data flows directly from input to output without human touch.
In MCA and small business lending, it means that ISO submissions, bank statements, or decision emails are received, parsed, checked, and written into the system of record without operators needing to intervene.
This method is common in industries like payments and insurance but is becoming essential in lending operations as volumes increase. Operators rely on it to scale deal flow while maintaining consistency and reducing costs.
How Does Straight-Through Processing Work?
Straight-through processing combines multiple automation steps into one uninterrupted flow.
- Automated intake: Submissions arrive via email, portal, or API and are captured by the system.
- Document recognition: Files are classified and named correctly for processing.
- Scrubbing and checks: Completeness, policy rules, risk signals, and fraud flags are applied automatically.
- Structured write-back: Parsed and validated fields are pushed directly into the CRM.
- Final status update: Deals are marked as underwriting-ready, with no waiting for manual review.
In Heron, straight-through processing is the outcome of combining intake, scrubbing, and write-back into a single loop.
- Unified workflow: Emails and attachments are ingested automatically.
- Automated scrubbing: Bank statements, IDs, and decision emails are checked and structured.
- Real-time CRM sync: Clean fields and statuses are updated immediately in the CRM.
- Exception routing: Only edge cases that cannot be processed are diverted, while the majority pass through end-to-end without a stop.
This enables teams to scale dramatically without proportional increases in staff.
Why Is Straight-Through Processing Important?
For brokers and funders, straight-through processing is important because it removes the need for manual handling of routine submissions. Without it, operators must check packets one by one, creating delays and raising costs.
Heron makes STP achievable in high-volume MCA environments by embedding automation at every stage. This reduces turnaround time, cuts manual touches, and ensures underwriting teams receive ready-to-review deals faster.
Common Use Cases
Straight-through processing shows up wherever submission volumes are high.
- Ingesting ISO submissions and auto-scrubbing them into CRM records.
- Converting funder decision emails into deal status updates automatically.
- Writing structured bank statement fields into CRM without operator review.
- Routing clean packets straight to underwriting queues with zero touches.
- Reducing BPO or offshore data entry requirements by automating the full flow.
FAQs About Straight-Through Processing
How does Heron enable straight-through processing?
Heron connects intake, scrubbing, and CRM write-back in one flow. This allows most submissions to be processed completely without human intervention, while edge cases are diverted to exception queues.
Why is straight-through processing valuable for MCA brokers and funders?
It allows teams to scale intake and underwriting without adding staff. Deals move faster, costs drop, and underwriters can focus only on exceptions or high-value work.
What outputs should teams expect from straight-through processing?
Teams see underwriting-ready records automatically created in the CRM, with structured fields, flags, and statuses populated, and fewer bottlenecks in queues.