As the speed of technological innovation quickens, the mortgage sector seeks new prospects and income sources to ensure long-term development and profitability. The digital mortgage is rapidly becoming the “in” approach to service today’s tech-savvy clients. However, market success necessitates mortgage lenders keep up with changing customer behaviors, new technology and ever-changing economic variables.
Why are traditional mortgage processes ineffective?
Every sector is attempting to transition to smarter processes supported by new technologies. The same is true for the mortgage business. With borrowers expecting a digitally enabled mortgage experience to become the standard, lenders must work toward digital mortgage transformation to prevent or overcome the following major challenges:
- Inefficiencies in operations
Disparate legacy systems, a tremendous amount of manual effort, lengthy processing times, and extremely high operational expenses make transactions slower and everyday operations unproductive.
- Massive amounts of paperwork
The massive quantity of documentation and cross-verification coupled with the ongoing demand to streamline the mortgage process puts the existing procedures and workflows under strain, with no beneficial results.
- Inadequate visibility into the process
One of the most significant issues that lenders face due to the participation of various stakeholders (lenders, realtors, attorneys, and regulatory authorities, is a lack of openness and process visibility. These are two things that are critical for staying on top of things.
Emerging trends in digital mortgage
Automation and digitization are key to modernizing mortgage operations like other business processes. It is not unexpected that organizations in this field are aiming for whole mortgage business transformation using a combination of man, machine and methodology. Also, a comprehensive strategy for digital mortgage transformation is required for success.
- The cost-cutting pressure: Lenders are under enormous pressure to save expenses as the loan lifecycle becomes more complicated. To do so, lenders must use cloud-based technology systems that are particularly intended for the loan lifecycle. Such platforms enable rapid deployment and lower operating expenses, allowing lenders to develop product and service portfolios at a lower cost.
- Increasing customer expectations: Customers’ expectations for on-demand digital content and one-click service delivery expanded dramatically as they began to spend most of their time at home and online – shopping, socializing, exercising and connecting. They anticipated mortgage lenders to not only digitize end-to-end previously manual or face-to-face solutions but also to minimize closing cycles by automating origination, processing, underwriting and servicing for smoother and faster home-financing and home-buying experiences. Offering consumers the opportunity to apply for mortgages online and offering features such as eClose is increasingly becoming a must in today’s digital environment, assisting in improving borrower experience, increasing operational efficiencies, and maximizing profitability.
III. The rise of bundled services: Bundled services are also gaining popularity in the digital mortgage market. Borrowers can meet all their mortgage needs in one place, from property search to warranty, inspection to insurance and more. By collaborating with third-party suppliers to offer a more diverse array of services while also developing new products in-house, many lenders want to create a more comprehensive and controllable digital mortgage experience for consumers, saving everyone time and money.
- Increasing third-party technology provider digitalization: The mortgage sector was under competitive pressure from Fintech companies to automate LO procedures or embrace a digital loan platform solution as digital transformation continued at a stop-and-start pace. This marked the start of a journey toward technology adoption that is still ongoing today. It involves the use of digital solutions across the value chain from partner ISVs and outside technology companies, including but not limited to platform modernization, workflow management, document extraction and management, customer verification, and more.
- The re-entry of non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) lenders: The industry that formerly refused non-QM applications is now accepting them again. As the global economy improves, there is enormous liquidity in the non-QM market, pushing mortgage lenders to increase access to mortgages for borrowers whose financial characteristics have prevented them from leveraging standard lending programs, frequently for reasons beyond their control.
The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in the once-conservative mortgage business, driven by the desire to provide outstanding client experiences and create long-term operational efficiency to outperform the competition. As creative new mortgage product offerings and technology solutions emerge, lenders and ISVs can only deliver compelling and distinct consumer value by keeping up with the growing market and technology trends and adopting revolutionary digital mortgage and lending services.
