What unites banks in different countries in their work with collateral and how VIEWAPP helps them solve their challenges

A bank in Minsk and a bank in Dushanbe evaluate collateral differently. In one case, part of the work is performed by independent appraisers; in another, a head office specialist receives photographs from field employees, compares the asset with listings on a local classifieds website, and manually calculates the collateral value applying a discount. Some use specialized databases; others rely on classifieds sites as their primary source of market prices.

Different regulators, different data sources, different internal processes.

But the underlying problem the bank has to solve remains the same: how to obtain reliable data about the collateral asset and process it quickly enough so that growing lending volumes do not require constant headcount expansion.

At this point, digital inspection ceases to be merely a way to replace on-site visits and becomes part of the entire collateral management system.

When the volume of collateral grows faster than the appraisal department's capacity

A bank may have a well-established appraisal process and experienced specialists, but the number of assets can still grow faster than the department's throughput.

Then a choice arises: expand the team, increase the number of on-site visits, or delegate part of the work to field employees and other process participants.

The latter option enables faster scaling but creates a new problem: the more people involved in data collection, the harder it becomes to centrally control what exactly was photographed, where and when it happened, and whether the materials received actually pertain to the specific asset.

This is especially critical for collateral where an error at the inspection stage can already affect the lending decision.

The cost of an error here can exceed the cost of the inspection itself. If the collateral value is overstated, the bank makes its lending decision based on security that does not actually exist in the declared amount. A car may turn out to be significantly cheaper than the stated valuation, real estate may have a different condition or characteristics, and in the worst case, the bank may accept as collateral an asset that does not correspond at all to the materials presented.

This risk is not theoretical. At one meeting with a bank, representatives of the financial institution shared that they had already encountered cases of abuse when collateral appraisal was delegated to field employees: the value of the asset could be misaligned with the amount for which the bank was prepared to issue the loan. That is precisely why the bank centralized appraisal and kept the review of materials with a head office specialist.

At the same time, this approach creates another problem — as lending volumes grow, specialists physically cannot keep up with processing all assets.

Delegating inspection to the field does not mean delegating control

If a bank employee or another representative on site simply photographs a car, equipment, or real estate and sends the images to the head office, the bank receives photographs but does not gain full control over the process of their creation.

VIEWAPP allows the bank to scale inspections without a proportional increase in the workload on its staff while maintaining control over the reliability of materials.

The platform organizes an inspection according to a pre-defined scenario: the employee or another authorized person completes the necessary steps directly in the application, takes mandatory photographs and videos, and records the required data.

Photographs are created directly during the inspection — finished images cannot simply be uploaded from the gallery. The system monitors shooting parameters, time, and coordinates, detects signs of geolocation spoofing, and can identify attempts to photograph an image from another device's screen.

As a result, the bank receives not just a collection of photographs, but structured and controlled inspection materials that can be used further in the appraisal and decision-making process.

At the same time, the scenario does not have to be identical for all banks. In VIEWAPP, the sequence of steps, mandatory photographs, fields, and additional checks can be configured according to the specific organization's internal methodology.

This is especially important for international projects: when the local methodology changes, there is no need to change the fundamental principle of digital inspection itself.

Dushanbe, Minsk, or another market — the principle does not change, only the data sources change

Once the bank has obtained reliable materials about the asset, the actual valuation of its worth begins.

And here the differences between markets are indeed significant.

For example, in Dushanbe, a bank specialist may use a local classifieds site where listings for cars or real estate are posted. They select comparable assets, analyze prices, and apply the bank's established discount.

In another country, the bank may use a different platform, a specialized database, or its own data source.

With the VIEWAPP service, the bank retains its familiar methodology.

If the bank already uses certain databases or classifieds sites, they can be preserved in the existing process. VIEWAPP's role is to feed structured data about the asset into those systems and eliminate unnecessary manual operations.

For using classifieds sites, this process can be automated. The technology is already working in one market: data about the car from the inspection is used to select comparable listings on designated platforms. When a new market is onboarded, the data source and rules for selecting comparables are configured separately.

That is, the technology remains common, while the market data sources are adapted to the specific country.

You don't have to automate everything at once

VIEWAPP does not assume that the bank must switch the entire appraisal process to automatic mode in one go.

In practice, it makes more sense to distinguish several levels.

First — secure data collection

VIEWAPP provides a unified inspection scenario, control over photo and video materials, recording of time and location, and generation of the inspection result.

Second — work of the bank's specialist

The materials received reach the specialist already in a structured form. They do not need to collect photographs from messengers, verify which asset each image belongs to, or manually ascertain the circumstances of the shooting.

Third — automation of work with market data

If the bank uses a classifieds site or another source of market data, it can be connected to the process to automatically select comparables based on the information from the inspection.

Independent appraisal

If legislation or the bank's internal rules require an independent appraiser, the inspection materials can be transferred to the appraiser, and the completed appraisal report can be returned to the same digital environment.

This approach is already being applied in VIEWAPP projects in other markets: the independent appraiser gains access to the inspection, conducts the appraisal, and adds the report directly into the system.

The result is a unified process in which digital inspection does not replace appraisal but becomes its reliable technological foundation.

One asset — multiple control points

Work with collateral does not end at the moment the loan is issued.

After the initial inspection, the bank may need periodic monitoring of the asset's condition, inspection prior to repossession, and inspection before collateral realization.

For each such case, a separate VIEWAPP scenario can be used.

A car can be re-inspected after a year and its condition compared with the initial materials. Real estate can be checked upon the occurrence of a specific event. During repossession, the asset's condition can be documented so that the bank retains a recorded history of its state.

The result is not a set of disparate photographs but a digital history of the collateral asset. This approach allows the bank to control not only the moment the property is accepted as collateral but also what happens to it afterwards.

What the bank ultimately gains

For a bank in any country, the task looks broadly similar: increase lending volumes without proportionally increasing the amount of manual work and risks.

VIEWAPP makes it possible to split this process into two parts.

The bank retains its own valuation methodology, the databases it uses, local classifieds sites, discount application rules, and requirements for independent appraisal.

VIEWAPP takes on the technological part: organizing the inspection according to a specified scenario, controlling the reliability of materials, recording the circumstances of their acquisition, generating a unified result, and passing the data onward — to the bank's specialist, an external valuation service, or an independent appraiser.

Therefore, for a bank in Minsk, Dushanbe, or any other country, the underlying logic of working with collateral does not change.

Only the local rules and data sources change. And VIEWAPP's task remains the same: to make the process of obtaining and processing collateral information fast, controlled, and scalable.

With VIEWAPP, the bank delegates part of the physical work to the field, but retains control over the process. That is the key difference between digitizing inspections and simply forwarding photographs: the process scales without losing control over the data on which the collateral decision is based.