Loan Application Funnel Sankey Diagram: Template
Follow 1,000 monthly loan applications from the channel they arrived through to the eligibility check, the credit decision and the money paid out. Spot where applicants are lost.
A loan application funnel Sankey follows each application through the checks a lender runs, and shows how many are approved, declined, withdrawn or approved and then never taken up.
The example takes 1,000 applications from three channels into one eligibility check. 700 pass it, 150 fail and 150 are left incomplete. Of the 700, 450 are approved, and 400 of those are paid out.
Two things are easy to see here and hard to see in a table: that 150 applicants leave before a decision is ever made, and that 50 approved loans are never taken up. Both are volume lost after the lender has already done the work. Counts are of applications, not amounts lent, so a single chart does not say how much money moved.
How to read this diagram
- Half of the 1,000 applications arrive on the website (500), 300 through brokers and 200 in branches.
- 30% of applications never reach a decision: 150 are not eligible and 150 are left incomplete.
- Of the 700 eligible applications, 450 (64%) are approved and 200 (29%) are declined.
- 400 loans are paid out, so 40% of all applications end as a loan.
The data behind it
Invented figures for illustration. Not data about any real organisation. Counts of applications, not loan amounts.
| From | To | Amount (applications) |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Eligibility check | 500 |
| Broker | Eligibility check | 300 |
| Branch | Eligibility check | 200 |
| Eligibility check | Eligible | 700 |
| Eligibility check | Not eligible | 150 |
| Eligibility check | Incomplete | 150 |
| Eligible | Approved | 450 |
| Eligible | Declined | 200 |
| Eligible | Withdrawn | 50 |
| Approved | Paid out | 400 |
| Approved | Not taken up | 50 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Website,Eligibility check,500
Broker,Eligibility check,300
Branch,Eligibility check,200
Eligibility check,Eligible,700
Eligibility check,Not eligible,150
Eligibility check,Incomplete,150
Eligible,Approved,450
Eligible,Declined,200
Eligible,Withdrawn,50
Approved,Paid out,400
Approved,Not taken up,50How it works
Count applications by channel
Use the channels your system records. Count each application once, in the period it was received.
Count what each check removed
Add the eligibility, decision and pay-out stages as nodes, with a flow for every outcome including withdrawn.
Check that each stage balances
What enters a node must leave it. Applications still open at the end of the period need their own node.
Frequently asked questions
Should the chart show loan amounts or application counts?
Pick one unit per chart. Counts show where applicants drop out; amounts show where money is lost. Build a second chart in euros if you need both.
What about applications still in progress?
Give them a node such as In progress. A Sankey drops nothing silently, so an unbalanced stage is flagged until you account for them.
Edit this loan funnel Sankey
Open the example as your own chart and enter your application counts by stage.