SPARK 7.6.1 Release Notes

With this coming release of SPARK 7.6.1 on Saturday, September 11, 2021, we'll be introducing two new configurations: selectable signatures for the credit memo and automatic approvals for decision requests. We've also made some minor improvements to the decision tracking page to help you better track the status of your decision request, and we've also made some minor improvements to the Sources and Uses feature. Please read on to find out more details.

What's New?

Selectable Signatures for Credit Memos

When you complete a decision request approval, re-approval, or amendment, you can now select the signatures you would like to appear on the credit memo. Before completing the decision request, you'll be prompted to select or de-select the signature(s) you would like to appear on the credit memo. Once you complete the decision request, your credit memo will automatically be updated with the signatures you've selected.

Selectable signatures is a configurable setting, so if you're interested, ask your admin or CSM to enable this feature in your SPARK environment.

Automatic Approval for Decision Requests

We're also introducing Automatic Approvals for decision requests for standard approvals and approvals by committee. Once all approvals have been met and accepted, we will automatically approve the decision request on behalf of the creator. Automatic Approvals will not be active for approvals with conditions.

Automatic Approval is a configurable setting, so if you're interested, ask your admin or CSM to enable this feature in your SPARK environment.

What's Changed?

Decision Tracking Status Updates

In order to help you better track your decision requests, the Decision Tracking page will now support a status bar and a more visible action for decision request creators. As your team makes progress on a decision request, the status bar will update with the follow status updates:

• Not Started - When a decision request has not been submitted yet.

• In Progress - When a decision request has been created and no approvals have been submitted yet. If more than one approval is required and at least one approval has been submitted, your request will still be marked as "In Progress."

• Pending Final Decision - If all approvals have been met, your decision request will be in "Pending Final Decision" status. At this stage, you'll be prompted to submit the final decision.

• Final Decision Recorded - Once a final decision is recorded, your decision will have a "Final Decision Recorded" status.

Descriptions for Credit Memo and Pre-Screen Memo Versions

Each time you create a new version of a credit memo or pre-screen memo versions, you can now add a brief description in order to keep better track of your changes.

Automatically Calculate Use of Proceeds Total Amount

We've received feedback that our Sources and Uses feature could be improved, and as part of a larger rework, we will now automatically update the total use of proceeds based on the Source of Funds allocation.

For example if the SBA is providing $100,000 for a building acquisition and the Owner's Equity is contributing $50,000, we will automatically add those two items together for a building acquisition use of proceeds of $150,000. Should one or both of those amounts change during the loan origination process, SPARK will continually adjust the total use of proceeds based on those changes. Given this update, we will no longer need the Uses tab on the Sources and Uses page, so it will be retired with this release.

Lead Management is Now Available for Partner Users

As a partner user with the correct permissions, you can now log into SPARK and see the lead listing for your organization. When you open the lead listing, you can now convert, withdraw, and decline leads for the lender(s) you are associated with.

What's Been Fixed

We've addressed a number of very minor defects around dashboards, usability, and general styling to improve the performance of SPARK and our new dashboards. In addition to the defects, we've fixed the following bugs.

Personal Resources Test

When conducting a personal resources test, we now include Owner's Equity in the calculation for the total financing package, which now altogether includes the SBA loan, together with any other loans, equity injection, or business funds used or arranged for at or about the same time (i.e., within 90 days) for the same project as the SBA loan.

Address Image Editor

We discovered a bug where the address image editor would still allow the user to move the address image after saving an address. We have now addressed this issue, and the image editor should now be static after saving an address.

Find Out More

Stay tuned for the latest features and subscribe to your favorite categories. If you have any feedback or questions about this release, please reach out to your favorite CSM, or email us at support@lendwithspark.com. Your feedback will help us make SPARK the best loan origination software in the market!