The mortgage industry has seen an influx of new tech solutions in recent years. Lenders who embrace these tools can reap the rewards of enhanced efficiencies, optimized workflows, and stronger sway amongst young homebuyers. Meanwhile, lenders that fail to adopt them are more likely to get passed by for their tech-savvy competitors.
According to an ICE Mortgage Technology survey, 99% of lenders say new technology improves the mortgage lending process.[i] It also found that:
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- 74% of lenders believe that technology simplifies their lending process.
- 70% of lenders say that it reduces their time to close.
- 67% of lenders report that it minimizes their data entry requirements.
With statistics like these, it’s clear that the shift toward more technology is here to stay.
So, how is technology revolutionizing the mortgage industry in 2023? Below, we’ll highlight three important benefits that mortgage tech solutions bring to the table.
Table of Contents
#1 Speed
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s no surprise that borrowers rank speed as one of their top lending priorities, according to a McKinsey & Company report.[ii]
Thankfully, the right mortgage technologies can accelerate many aspects of your lending process, shortening your loan cycles and enabling you to take on more customers.
Many of these speed-enhancing tech solutions employ automation. Mortgage lending automation can expedite your:
Application Response Times
From prequalification applications to formal mortgage applications, borrowers want fast responses. After all, your response can make or break their home-buying journey.
If you don’t offer digital applications, meeting borrowers’ need for speed may be next to impossible. Luckily, automation can reduce your reliance on manual applications and make your job as a lender a lot easier.
For example, just take a look at Cascade Prequal. This automated prequalification solution gives applicants the ability to see if they prequalify with you by submitting an online application. Once they submit their information, Cascade Prequal can quickly evaluate their creditworthiness, compare it to your customized credit criteria, and generate an instant response. You can personalize Cascade Prequal to use soft pull credit reports from one, two, or all three credit bureaus.
Applicants who value quick application responses will appreciate Cascade Prequal’s speed. Meanwhile, you can use Cascade Prequal to pull more applicants into your lending pipeline without lifting a finger or paying for tri-merge credit reports prematurely.
Still On The Fence About Digitized Applications?
If you need any extra motivation to offer online applications, just take a look at these ICE Mortgage Technology statistics:[iii]
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- 58% of homebuyers claim that the availability of online applications impacts their choice of lender.
- 63% of consumers believe that online mortgage processes make the home-buying process easier.
- 55% of homeowners appreciate the simplicity of the online application process.
- 53% of homeowners value the fact that online applications reduce their time to close.
Income and Employment Verifications
Another key process that can be accelerated with the right technology is the verification of income and employment (VOE). Without automation, manual VOE can take several days to complete. By automating VOE, you can enjoy reliable, same-day verifications and forgo the hassles of manual VOE for good.
If you want to reap the benefits of automated VOE, Cascade VOE has you covered. This automated VOE solution can return hits in a matter of minutes. It does so by employing a unique rules-based engine and multi-level cascade.
While Cascade VOE automates the more tedious elements of VOE, you can remain in control of the ordering process. For instance, you can customize your cascade of vendors to best suit your budget and credit requirements. Cascade VOE can integrate with a variety of leading third-party and consumer-permissioned vendors. You can also arrange your vendor’s order within the cascade to maximize your cost savings and efficiency.
Electronic Signatures
Electronic signatures are a simple technology that can speed up the mortgage lending process significantly. In 2020, 61% of homebuyers used electronic signatures to sign their mortgage documents.[iv] These days, that percentage is likely even higher.
While electronic signatures entered the mortgage industry back in the early 2000s, many lenders were reluctant to embrace them due to the perception that they left the door open for fraud. To combat this concern, electronic signatures are now strictly regulated by the 2000 E-Sign Act.[v]
While there are many e-sign tools on the market, some offer stronger fraud protection than others. For instance, at Certified Credit, our electronic SSA-89 signatures stand out for their:
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- Social Security number (SSN) verifications – Our electronic SSA-89 signature services connect directly with the Social Security Administration. As a result, they can give you peace of mind that your applicant’s name and SSN are accurate.
- Fraud prevention – If an applicant’s name and SSN don’t match, you’ll be notified right away. In turn, you can catch potential mortgage fraud in its tracks.
- Seamless integration – Our SSA-89 e-signatures and wet signatures can integrate with your LOS, PointServices platform, and other custom APIs.
- Enhanced compliance – Secondary market investors require you to thoroughly verify your borrowers’ SSNs. Our SSA-89 e-signatures can help you do just that.
- Speed – Most importantly, our SSA-89 e-signatures pave the way for super fast signings. They allow your applicants to sign their mortgage paperwork electronically, eliminating the need to print, sign, and scan large stacks of documents.
#2 Streamlined, Cohesive Service
While you may employ several solutions within your tech stack, you want your borrowers’ experience to be cohesive. Applicants shouldn’t be able to tell how many tools you’re using.
You can achieve a streamlined end-to-end experience by selecting solutions that integrate with one another, rather than cobbling together several fragmented tools.
Here are some mortgage technology solutions that offer easy integration:
Cascade Alerts
Mortgage lead generation often takes the form of expensive marketing and advertising campaigns. While these strategies are worthwhile, you can enhance your lead generation efforts more affordably using automation.
Cascade Alerts is an automated lead generation solution that can mine your existing customer base for new leads. It does so by monitoring your past and present borrowers’ credit reports for mortgage-related inquiries. Once an inquiry is identified, Cascade Alerts can notify you within 24 hours.
The best part? You won’t have to go digging through your documents to locate each lead’s information. Instead, Cascade Alerts can integrate seamlessly with your existing LOS/POS and deliver new leads’ data to you on a silver platter. When you call past customers from your lead lists to try and win over their business, you’ll have all of their information at your fingertips, enabling you to personalize your pitch with ease.
If you’re an Encompass user, you’ll be happy to learn that Cascade Alerts integrates directly into Velocity. By using these tools in conjunction, you can streamline your lead management and optimize your lead nurturing campaigns.
Cascade VOE
Like Cascade Alerts, Cascade VOE offers built-in integration. It can send your applicants’ verification data directly to Encompass, allowing you to review it from the system you already know and love. This easy integration also enables you to provide your borrowers with a simple, digital-first experience, rather than requesting the same information from them repeatedly.
#3 Mortgage Fraud Prevention
Mortgage fraud has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic.[vi] In part, this spike may be due to the transition to remote operations that so many lenders implemented in 2020. Shrewd fraudsters capitalized on this transition before lenders had the right tech solutions to protect themselves.
Fortunately, today’s tech solutions can help you stay one step ahead of fraudsters by harnessing the insights of Big Data. Big Data refers to the fast-growing datasets mined from public databases, financial records, and social media. Lenders can use Big Data to fill in gaps about their applicants and identify discrepancies in their:
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- Identities
- Occupancy status
- Creditworthiness
Alternative Data
In addition to preventing fraud, Big Data may be able to promote more inclusion within the mortgage industry. Alternative data, in particular, is helping aspiring homeowners fill out their thin credit files. Alternative credit data includes non-traditional financial information, such as rent payments, utility payments, and bank account information.
By including this type of data in new mortgage credit scoring models, previously marginalized borrowers can finally obtain the financing they need to achieve home ownership.
Stay On Top of The Latest Tech Trends With Certified Credit
As you can see, mortgage technology can help lenders meet their applicants’ growing expectations for speed, streamline their customer experience, and stop mortgage fraud in its tracks.
If you want in on these benefits, Certified Credit can set you up with the right tech solutions for your unique lending process. In addition to our automated Cascade solutions and SSA-89 verifications, we also offer:
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- Affordable tri-merge credit reports
- Credit score improvement tools
- Automated undisclosed debt monitoring
- Flood zone determinations
- Fraud and risk support
- Settlement services
We understand that updating your processes may feel overwhelming at first. Luckily, our exceptional workflow optimization experts and friendly customer service team can ensure a smooth transition for everyone on your team.
Want to learn more about our credit reporting and mortgage lending solutions? Schedule a credit consultation with us today.
Sources:
[i] Forbes. How Digital Technology Changed The Face Of The Mortgage Industry.
[ii] McKinsey & Company. Competing on customer experience in US mortgage.
[iii] Forbes. How Digital Technology Changed The Face Of The Mortgage Industry.
[iv] Forbes. How Digital Technology Changed The Face Of The Mortgage Industry.
[v] SSA. eCBSV Guide to eCBSV Written Consent.
https://www.ssa.gov/dataexchange/eCBSV/written_consent.html
[vi] Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Pandemic Brings Increase in Fraud.
https://www.frbsf.org/our-district/about/sf-fed-blog/covid-19-pandemic-increase-fraud/
