Tax Guard, a leading provider of IRS tax data services and a Cogency Global company, has announced a strategic partnership with Casca, the first AI-native loan origination system. This collaboration is set to redefine borrower risk evaluation by embedding verified, real-time tax data directly into an intelligent and automated workflow. The integration promises to help lenders significantly reduce manual work, mitigate fraud risks, and ultimately make faster, more confident credit decisions.
Streamlining Lending with AI and Verified Data
Lenders today face the persistent challenge of increasing operational speed through technology while maintaining rigorous due diligence standards in an AI-driven landscape. The new partnership directly addresses this by combining Casca's platform, which automates up to 90% of manual lending tasks, with Tax Guard's trusted data sources. This powerful synergy enables financial institutions to process commercial and small business loans up to 30 times faster than traditional industry averages.
Enhancing Credit Decisioning and Risk Management
At the core of this collaboration is the seamless integration of Tax Guard's verified IRS tax transcripts, a critical component for accurately assessing a borrower's creditworthiness. By providing direct access to this essential data within Casca's automated system, lenders can significantly enhance their fraud detection and risk management capabilities. This immediate access to verified financial information empowers lenders to build a more complete and reliable picture of borrower risk.
Rachel Sexton, VP of Product at Tax Guard, noted that while AI can accelerate lending, trusted data remains essential for maintaining the diligence required for confident decisions. Echoing this focus on improved processes, Casca CEO Lukas Haffer highlighted the mission to provide small businesses with faster, fairer access to capital. This shared vision aims to reduce application friction and abandonment, benefiting both lenders and their entrepreneurial clients.
A Strategic Alliance for Modern Finance
Casca, founded in 2023 by banking infrastructure and machine learning experts from Stanford University, has quickly established itself as a transformative force in lending. The company is backed by prominent investors like Y Combinator and Canapi Ventures, having raised $33 million in total funding after a recent $29 million Series A round. Its flagship customers, including Live Oak Bank and Huntington National Bank, have also invested directly, signaling strong industry confidence.
As a subsidiary of the established Cogency Global, Tax Guard has been a trusted industry partner for lenders nationwide since its founding in 2009. The company specializes in providing real-time IRS tax data services that streamline complex due diligence and ongoing risk assessment processes. Its proprietary tools are designed to offer users ongoing peace of mind and robust support for critical credit and fraud evaluations.
The partnership between Tax Guard and Casca marks a significant advancement in the ongoing digital transformation of commercial and small business lending. By merging sophisticated AI-powered automation with verified, critical financial data, the collaboration provides a powerful, end-to-end solution for modern financial institutions. Lenders are now better equipped to enhance efficiency, strengthen risk controls, and serve their clients more effectively in an increasingly competitive market.