IE Hub and Mega AI launch ELLIE for affordability support

IE Hub and Mega AI have launched ELLIE, an AI-powered affordability solution for creditors working with customers in financial difficulty. The platform combines IE Hub’s Standard Financial Statement (SFS) compliant income and expenditure (I&E) platform with Mega AI’s conversational AI technology, aiming to reduce reliance on traditional telephone-based affordability assessments.

ELLIE is built around intelligent pre-contact affordability, AI-powered conversations, customer triage and alerts, and a living affordability assessment. Customers can complete an I&E digitally through IE Hub before engaging with an AI agent, or be guided through a shorter I&E if they have not already completed an assessment.

The system uses affordability information alongside creditor policies and rules to conduct online conversations, determine next-best actions, agree repayment plans and take payment. Integration with the Vulnerability Registration Service (VRS) is intended to help organisations identify vulnerability indicators earlier and route customers to appropriate support.

The companies said the “tell us once” model is designed to reduce repeated affordability conversations, including cases where customers spend 30 or 40 minutes explaining their circumstances to multiple organisations. ELLIE is expected to launch in Q4 2026, with creditor pilots already being explored.