In many lending businesses, underwriting is seen as the engine of profitability — the place where decisions get made, risk gets priced, and growth is controlled. But as portfolios mature, something interesting happens: underwriting’s impact on long-term value starts to plateau. The real leverage shifts to how you manage the customers you already have. At Ensemblex, we’ve seen this pattern play out repeatedly across fintechs and neobanks. The fastest-growing firms learn to tr

For many financial services companies, lending is the next big step. Payments, deposits, and other services create a strong base, but credit creates a large, profitable business. The challenge? Well, it’s credit. Not just another product feature, a mismanaged credit product can sink a business. One solution is to move very slowly, but that has its own costs: wasted runway, time, and opportunity. At Ensemblex, we know that credit and fast growth are compatible under discipline

Over the past decade, easy capital, VC expectations, and aggressive customer acquisition targets led many fintechs to pursue scale with a “growth at all costs” mindset. Too often, at the expense of underlying credit performance and profitability. As interest rates have risen and funding tightened, lenders across emerging markets are now facing a stark new reality: growth only matters if it generates durable unit economics. At Ensemblex, we’ve helped several fintech lenders na

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Lenders often push back when we suggest exploring a new model build. It's fair—model builds require resources, and it can feel silly to fiddle with an underwriting model that "works," especially if origination volumes are on track and losses seem manageable. But at Ensemblex, we know that "works" often means "leaves money on the table." What Does It Mean for a Model to "Work"? In technical terms, a credit model is effective if it "slopes ris