Berry: one applicant, three lenders

Month	Money in	Money out	Left over
Oct 2025	$15,711	$21,057	-$5,346
Nov 2025	$10,142	$21,861	-$11,719
Dec 2025	$21,660	$23,419	-$1,758
Jan 2026	$16,109	$24,637	-$8,527
Feb 2026	$19,924	$22,765	-$2,841
Mar 2026	$10,066	$21,779	-$11,713
Apr 2026	$9,894	$38,062	-$28,168
May 2026	$36,096	$44,408	-$8,312
Jun 2026(peak)	$103,393	$71,399	$31,994
Jul 2026(peak)	$131,245	$106,030	$25,215
Aug 2026(peak)	$107,061	$68,153	$38,908
Sep 2026	$41,585	$37,416	$4,169

Every reason Northgate Credit Union gave

Strength: Most of your income arrives June to August. We've set the line up so you draw on it in quieter months and repay it from those sales.
Concern: Your busy-season sales can comfortably repay $80,000, so that's the size of the line.
Strength: You've been a member for 15 years and hold 3 products with us.
Strength: None of your payments bounced in the last year.

Decided by deterministic rules (engine 0.1.0, Northgate Credit Union policy v1). Rates, limits and thresholds are illustrative.

One applicant, three lenders

The data going in is identical. Shaded rows are where the lenders disagree.

Where they differ

Outcome

Northgate Credit UnionApproved

KiteDeclined

Aspen BankDeclined

Amount

Northgate Credit Union$80,000

KiteNone

Aspen BankNone

Product

Northgate Credit UnionSeasonal operating line

KiteNone

Aspen BankNone

Structure

Northgate Credit UnionSeasonal

KiteNone

Aspen BankNone

Where the three lenders differ
Item	Northgate Credit Union	Kite	Aspen Bank
Outcome	Approved	Declined	Declined
Amount	$80,000	None	None
Product	Seasonal operating line	None	None
Structure	Seasonal	None	None

Northgate Credit Union

Relationship-based, with delegated authority

Approved

$80,000

Seasonal operating line · seasonal · 7.95% illustrative

Sign-off: Branch Manager

Why

Most of your income arrives June to August. We've set the line up so you draw on it in quieter months and repay it from those sales.
Your busy-season sales can comfortably repay $80,000, so that's the size of the line.
You've been a member for 15 years and hold 3 products with us.

Conditions

Interest-only monthly payments; line repaid to zero by the end of August each year from peak-season sales

Kite

Instant, automated, cash-flow only

Declined

No offer

Decided automatically, instantly

Why

In a typical month, more money goes out of your account than comes in.

What would change this

Approval is more likely once most months end with more coming in than going out.

Aspen Bank

Policy-driven, fixed thresholds

Declined

No offer

Decided against fixed policy

Why

Your income changes a lot from month to month, so a fixed monthly payment would be hard to keep up in quiet months.

What would change this

A lender that can match repayment to your busy season may be able to help; a fixed monthly payment doesn't fit this income pattern.

Fictional institutions, synthetic data. Rates, limits and authority tiers are illustrative. Decisions are made by deterministic rules; see published test results.

Products that may fit

Nothing else to suggest for this applicant.

Identity and business checks

Sent to the verification queue for a person to review · time to verify 7 h 53 min

Identity documentPassed
Simulated drivers licence check: authentic and not expired.
Automated · 3.4 s
Name and date of birth matchPassed
Name and date of birth match the document.
Automated · 2.7 s
Sanctions screeningPassed
No match on the fictional sanctions list.
Automated · 2.1 s
Politically exposed person screeningPassed
No match on the fictional politically exposed persons list.
Automated · 2.5 s
Business registrationNeeds review
Registered and active, but the last annual filing was 17 months ago (on 2025-04-18). Ask for proof of filing.
Manual review · 7 h 53 min
Beneficial ownershipPassed
2 owner(s) with 25% or more identified.
Automated · 3.0 s

Pre-authorized debit schedule

Frequency: Monthly, larger after peak season
Amount: Variable
Confirmation sent: 2026-10-05
First debit: 2027-05-03

Scheduled debits
#	Date	Debit	Interest	Balance after
1	2027-05-03	$116.24	$116.24	$17,546.10
2	2027-06-01notice by 2027-05-22	$12,595.24	$245.45	$24,699.57
3	2027-07-02notice by 2027-06-22	$12,513.42	$163.63	$12,349.78
4	2027-08-02notice by 2027-07-23	$12,431.60	$81.82	$0.00

Illustrative Rates and interest are illustrative.

Draws keep one month's average spending in the account: the borrower uses its own cash first, and the line covers only the gap, based on its past year (illustrative). Interest is charged only on what's drawn; principal is repaid from peak-season sales. The rest of the limit is headroom for a poor harvest or a price drop.

Agreement checklist (Payments Canada Rule H1)

Date and signature · H1 Appendix II
Execution date recorded; electronic signature captured.
Authority to debit account · H1 Appendix II
Borrower authorizes the lender to debit the account they name, clearly and unambiguously.
PAD category · H1 Appendix II
Business
Amount and timing · H1 Appendix II
Variable amount, monthly, larger in peak-season months.
Cancellation · H1 Appendix II; s.30
The borrower may cancel at any time with 10 days' notice (the agreement may set no more than 30 calendar days). A sample cancellation form is available from their financial institution or www.payments.ca.
Contact information · H1 Appendix II
Lender contact details for questions, privacy, information and recourse.
Recourse statement (verbatim) · H1 Appendix II
You have certain recourse rights if any debit does not comply with this agreement. For example, you have the right to receive reimbursement for any debit that is not authorized or is not consistent with this PAD Agreement. To obtain more information on your recourse rights, contact your financial institution or visit www.payments.ca.
Confirmation · H1 s.16
Sent 2026-10-05, at least 10 calendar days before the first debit on 2027-05-03. Not waived.
Pre-notification · H1 s.17
The amount and date of each debit after the first are sent at least 10 calendar days ahead. Not waived.
Returned payments · H1 s.17 (illustrative policy)
A returned payment is presented once more, for the same amount, under this agreement, and never combined with another payment; the borrower is told the retry date when told about the return. A missed payment collected later is pre-notified 10 days ahead. How much notice a retry needs isn't settled by the rule's text, so this policy is illustrative.
Recourse period · H1 s.24
The borrower can claim reimbursement for a debit that does not follow the agreement within 10 business days.

Rule H1, Payments Canada

How to send the money

Can it be reversed?: A credit can be returned by the receiving institution (for example, account closed), so funds can come back days later.
Fraud considerations: Lower risk of a rushed mistake: there is time to catch an error before funds land.

Sent: 2026-10-06 10:00
Available: 2026-10-07 09:00
Time to fund: 23 h
Cost (illustrative): $0.25

AFT disbursement file

Funds $37,049.36 to the borrower's account in a Payments Canada Standard 005 layout: a header, 2 credit records and a trailer, each 1,464 characters.

A line is paid out as it's drawn: each draw would go in that day's AFT file. The 2 planned draws are shown together here, each with its own date.

Fields in the C record
Field	Positions	Value	What it means
Logical record type	1–1	C	C for a credit record.
Logical record count	2–10	000000002	Position of this record in the file.
Origination control data	11–24	00000999015132	Originator's ID plus file creation number, repeated from the header.
Transaction type	25–27	450	Payment type code from Standard 007.IllustrativePlaceholder code; Standard 007 not checked.
Amount	28–37	0001754610	Amount of the credit, greater than zero.IllustrativeWritten in cents: implied by the standard's sample, not stated.
Date funds to be available	38–43	027091	0yyddd; no more than 14 days after creation.
Institutional ID number	44–52	099915834	0 + 3-digit institution + 5-digit branch of the borrower's account (fictional).
Payee account number	53–64	4408908853	Borrower's account (fictional).
Item trace number	65–86	0990009905132000000001	Destination data centre (4) + originating data centre (5) + file number (4) + sequence (9).
Stored transaction type	87–89	000	Zeros on first presentation.
Originator's short name	90–104	NORTHGATE CU	Short lender name shown to the borrower.
Payee name	105–134	LARCHMERE LODGE LTD. …	Borrower's name.
Originator's long name	135–164	NORTHGATE CREDIT UNION …	Full lender name.
Originating direct clearer's user ID	165–174	spaces	Optional; blank here.
Originator's cross reference number	175–193	LOAN_LARCHMERE-LODG	Lender's own reference: the loan number.
Institutional ID for returns	194–202	099900010	Where a returned item goes (fictional).
Account number for returns	203–214	1000200030	Lender's account for returned items (fictional).
Originator's sundry information	215–229	spaces	Optional; blank here.
Filler	230–251	spaces	Spaces.
Originator–direct clearer settlement code	252–253	spaces	Optional; blank here.
Invalid data element ID	254–264	00000000000	Zeros on first presentation.
Segments two to six (unused)	265–1464	spaces	Unused segments are filled entirely with spaces.

Standard 005, Payments Canada

Servicing at Northgate Credit Union

Simulated date: Oct 6, 2026

Status: Active
Owed: $0.00
Debits collected: 0
Returned debits: 0

Open the loan: ledger, timeline and recovery

Who protects deposits

Northgate is a provincially regulated credit union; coverage depends on its province. Each province's credit union deposit insurer sets its own limit (see the table).

Banks and federally regulated credit unions are CDIC members: $100,000 per eligible category, per member institution. CDIC

Provincially regulated credit unions, by province

Credit union deposit insurer and coverage by province
Province	Insurer	Coverage
Alberta	Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation	Unlimited (100% of deposits, including accrued interest)
British Columbia	Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia	Reported as unlimited
Manitoba	Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Manitoba	UnlimitedRegistered deposits included
New Brunswick	New Brunswick Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation	$250,000 per categoryEach registered plan type insured separately to $250,000
Newfoundland and Labrador	Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation	$250,000 per type of depositRegistered plans form one $250,000 category
Nova Scotia	Nova Scotia Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation	$250,000 per categoryEach registered contract insured separately to $250,000
Ontario	Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (Deposit Insurance Reserve Fund)	Reported as $250,000; registered plans unlimited
Prince Edward Island	Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation	$250,000 per memberRegistered plans 100%
Quebec	Autorité des marchés financiers	Reported as $100,000 per deposit category
Saskatchewan	Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation	Unlimited
Territories	No territorial credit union insurer found	Not applicable

Limits checked against each insurer's site on 2026-10-11. Coverage rules have details (for example, registered plans); the insurer's site is the authority.

Credit memo for Northgate Credit Union

AI drafts the memo. The engine and a human make the decision.

Draft a memo from this lender's decision. Only the engine's structured output is used: no transactions and no personal details.

What this decision used

Years as a Northgate member: 15
Northgate products held: 3
Average balance at Northgate: $66,783
Already owed to Northgate (for who signs off): $0
Bounced payments, last 90 days: 0
Card balances vs limits: No cards shared
Average monthly cash left over: $1,825
Cash left over across a year: $21,901
Existing loan payments per month: $6,500
Income pattern: Seasonal
Busiest months: Jun, Jul, Aug (65% of income)
Month-by-month cash flow: 12 months
Canadian credit history: 198 months
Foreign credit report: Not available
Days of spending covered by balance: 49

What it deliberately ignores

Name
Age and date of birth
Gender
Nationality and immigration status
Postal code and province

One input can track nationality: a foreign credit report. Programs cover only some countries, so whether a report exists depends on where someone has lived. Berry uses only the report's rating (good or better counts as credit history), never the country.

A test shuffles these across every applicant and checks that no decision changes. Large cash deposits are flagged for FINTRAC review but are never a credit factor.

Northgate Credit Union decision

Why

Conditions

Every reason Northgate Credit Union gave

One applicant, three lenders

Where they differ

Why

Conditions

Why

What would change this

Why

What would change this

Products that may fit

Identity and business checks

Pre-authorized debit schedule

Agreement checklist (Payments Canada Rule H1)

How to send the money

AFT disbursement file

Servicing at Northgate Credit Union

Who protects deposits

Provincially regulated credit unions, by province

Credit memo for Northgate Credit Union

What this decision used

What it deliberately ignores