A cross-sell offer that is declined at the application stage is worse than no offer at all. The borrower who receives "you are pre-approved for $17,000" and then applies and is told their DTI is too high or their FICO is below threshold has been promised something and let down. Their trust in the institution is diminished — and they are now less likely to apply for a future offer. The Cross-Sell Campaign Agent AI does not send a cross-sell offer until it has run the full credit policy eligibility check — DTI, FICO, DPD history, LTV, existing facilities, and product-specific rules — and confirmed that the borrower genuinely qualifies for the offer being made. What the borrower receives is not a marketing message dressed as a pre-approval. It is an actual pre-approval.
What distinguishes genuine pre-approval from pre-screened marketing
Pre-screened marketing uses broad, low-friction criteria — "active borrower with no NPL / charge-off in last 12 months" — to identify a large audience for a cross-sell campaign, then runs the actual credit check when the borrower applies. This is not pre-approval. It is a lead-generation mechanism with a flattering label. The institutional cost of this approach is significant: high application volumes with low sanction rates, a credit team spending time on applications they will decline, and borrowers who applied and were rejected — a relationship-damaging experience that a genuine pre-approval would have prevented entirely.
Genuine pre-approval means the underwriting is done before the offer is sent. The borrower's DTI at the offered amount has been calculated from their verified current income. Their FICO score as of today has been confirmed above threshold. The proposed facility has been checked against the product's LTV requirements. Every product-specific rule the credit policy contains has been applied. If the borrower accepts the offer and provides the minimal documentation required, the sanction follows as a matter of process rather than a new credit decision.
"A pre-approval that is declined at the application stage is a broken promise. The eligibility gate ensures that the institution makes only promises it intends to keep."
The eligibility gate: 15 checks for an SME / small business working capital top-up
Pre-Offer Eligibility Gate — Kaveri Constructions · LA-2024-1844 · SME / small business WC Top-Up · Nov 12, 2025
15 checks · 15 pass · Offer cleared · Amount: $17.4 hundred thousand · Rate: 13.5% · Tenor: 36M
15Checks run
15Passed
0Failed
ClearedOffer approved
Gate 1 — Repayment history (mandatory KO criteria)
✅Check 1: No DPD 30+ in last 24 monthsDPD history: zero DPD across 14 months of loan history · No bounce recovered after Day 7 in any month · Full pass ✓
✅Check 2: No NPL / charge-off classification — ever on any account at this institutionBureau and CBS check: no NPL / charge-off classification on any account · Active or closed · Clear ✓
✅Check 3: ACH bounce frequency below threshold — ≤2 in last 12 monthsACH bounces last 12 months: 0 · Well within ≤2 threshold ✓
✅Check 4: No active restructuring or moratorium on the existing loanExisting loan LA-2024-1844: standard terms, no modification active ✓
Gate 2 — Credit bureau and FICO (hard thresholds)
✅Check 5: Current FICO score ≥ product minimum (680 for SME / small business top-up)FICO as of Oct 2025 bureau pull: 724 · Above 680 minimum · ✓
✅Check 6: No active NPL / charge-off or default at any other institution (bureau check)Bureau: no NPL / charge-off or SMA-2 classification at any lender · Clear ✓
✅Check 7: Bureau enquiry count ≤ 6 in last 12 monthsBureau enquiries last 12M: 2 (one from this institution at origination, one from a bank) · Below 6 threshold ✓
Gate 3 — Income and DTI (capacity verification)
✅Check 8: Current DTI below product ceiling (65% for SME / small business WC top-up)Existing SME / small business monthly payment: $5,700/month · Verified income: $84,000/month · Current DTI: 6.8% · Well below 65% ceiling ✓
✅Check 9: Post-offer DTI within ceiling — with proposed $17.4L top-up monthly paymentTop-up monthly payment at $17.4L / 13.5% / 36M: $5,905/month · Total DTI post-offer: ($5,700 + $5,905) / $84,000 = 13.8% · Well within 65% ✓
✅Check 10: Income source verified as stable (sales tax / federal tax outward supply consistent 4 quarters)sales tax / federal tax outward supply: Q4 FY24 $42L, Q1 FY25 $46L, Q2 FY25 $52L, Q3 FY25 $62L · Consistent growth, no quarter below prior ✓
Gate 4 — Product-specific rules (SME / small business WC top-up policy)
✅Check 11: Existing loan vintage ≥ 12 months (minimum for top-up eligibility)Loan LA-2024-1844 originated Sep 2024 · Vintage as of Nov 2025: 14 months · Above 12M minimum ✓
✅Check 12: Outstanding balance ≤ 80% of original loan (equity position check)Outstanding: $13.8L · Original: $28L · Outstanding/Original: 49.3% · Below 80% threshold ✓
✅Check 13: Proposed top-up ≤ 40% of annual sales tax / federal tax turnoverProposed top-up: $17.4L · Annualised sales tax / federal tax turnover: $1.84 Cr × 4Q basis = $248L approx · 40% of turnover: $99L · $17.4L well within limit ✓
✅Check 14: No active legal proceeding against the borrower or businessLegal check: no UCC / foreclosure proceedings notice, no federal court filing, no writ or injunction against borrower or Kaveri Constructions · Clear ✓
✅Check 15: sales tax / federal tax registration active and filing current (no gap quarters)sales tax / federal tax status: active · All quarterly returns filed through Sep 2025 · No gap in filing history ✓
What happens when the eligibility gate blocks an offer
| Fail reason | How often it fires | What the AI does | Is a campaign sent? |
|---|
| DTI ceiling breach at proposed amount |
~28% of triggered accounts |
Recalculates maximum eligible amount at the DTI ceiling. If max ≥ $2L, sends a smaller offer. If max < $2L, suppresses entirely. |
Sometimes — at reduced amount |
| FICO below product minimum |
~12% of triggered accounts |
Checks if a secured product (LAP) is available for this borrower that has a lower FICO minimum. If yes, switches product recommendation. If no, suppresses and sets 6-month re-check. |
Sometimes — different product |
| DPD 30+ in last 24 months |
~8% of triggered accounts |
Suppresses all cross-sell outreach for this account until 24 months of clean repayment have elapsed post the DPD event. No exception. |
No — hard block |
| Loan vintage below 12 months |
~18% of triggered accounts |
Suppresses the campaign and sets a re-trigger at the 12-month mark. The trigger that fired (e.g., monthly payment calculator use) is logged — if the same trigger fires again after 12 months, the eligibility gate runs again. |
No — re-queued at 12M |
| Active restructuring / moratorium |
~3% of triggered accounts |
Hard block on all cross-sell outreach while restructuring is active. The account is flagged for post-restructuring review — if it completes successfully, a cross-sell campaign is reconsidered at the 12-month post-restructuring mark. |
No — hard block |
15Eligibility checks for SME / small business WC top-up — repayment history, bureau, income/DTI, product-specific rules · All 15 passed for Kaveri
52.8%Of triggered accounts blocked by eligibility gate — 2,557 of 4,841 triggers · No offer sent · No false promises made
Smaller offerDTI ceiling breach → recalculate at max eligible amount · Reduced offer sent if ≥ $2L · Better than no offer or an ineligible one
48hExpected sanction time after acceptance — all underwriting already done · Only missing document: latest 3M sales tax / federal tax returns
The 52.8% of triggers that are blocked by the eligibility gate are not wasted — they are the institution's integrity
It would be easy to lower the eligibility threshold — to send campaigns to borrowers with slightly below-threshold FICO scores, or to skip the DTI recalculation and send the offer at the face amount regardless. Each of those compromises would increase the number of campaigns sent and increase the number of applications received. It would also increase the number of applications declined, the number of borrowers who feel misled, and the number of relationships damaged by a promise the institution could not keep. The Cross-Sell Campaign Agent AI's 15-check eligibility gate is not a conversion rate suppressor — it is the mechanism that ensures every conversion is a genuine one, every offer can be honoured, and every borrower who accepts a cross-sell offer receives what they were promised.
