TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1491913
M R EP O RT | 17 COVER STORY volume and get these loans closed within two months. It was about managing the process from app to fund efficiently, and the tech was built for that. POS and LOS sys- tems focused on that process. This year will be about focusing on the purchase prequals and pre-ap- proval borrowers who might stay at that stage in the process for many months. This is traditionally a CRM system, lead manage- ment, and marketing automation challenge—staying connected by text, email, and phone calls with borrowers who spend months looking for a home, and who need to understand the cost of owner- ship and other challenges. Dominic Iannitti President & CEO, DocMagic Inc. There are enough lenders that have incorporated electronic loan closings into their processes today to create the kind of competitive pressure that will ultimately drive widespread adoption. With the recent downturn, organizations have an opportunity to focus on optimization, and consumers are ready for this. The idea of coming into a branch or title company office to close a loan is a pre-pan- demic concept that consumers now know they can reject. As a result, a modern loan process that includes eClosing, execution of an eNote, with remote online no- tarization will be the technology competitive lenders will require and consumers will expect. Nate Levin Managing Director, Parker89 We've seen widespread adoption of point-of-sale (POS) solutions that digitize the mortgage loan application process, but we have yet to see real adoption of technologies to improve loan processing, underwriting, and closing. Optical character recognition (OCR) and natural language processing technologies that convert paper documents to digital, structured data, and loan origination system software that leverages more modern, efficient workflows will be key enablers. Jane Mason CEO & Founder, Clarifire Mortgage processes need to become seamless with servicing processes. The customers origi- nating loans can be the key to re- tention, and for borrowers to buy more products and services from the originators. If servicing is your focus, providing borrowers with access to self-service tools and creating customer-centric responsiveness will depend on having advanced portal technolo- gy that is interactive and launches the correct workflows while creating notifications automatical- ly. It should also deliver results in seconds or minutes, rather than hours or days. For mortgage lenders and servicers, no-touch processing is imperative. Offering this type of rapid digital efficien- cy is a win-win for all, as well as the key to both a servicer's success metrics and end-to-end mortgage industry modernization. Josh Reicher Chief Digital Officer, Cenlar The mortgage industry, and especially the mortgage servic- ing industry, has struggled to stay ahead of both increasing operational expenses, and cus- tomer demands for the digital experience. There is a race to automation to address both—to find immediate opportunities for improved effectiveness and reduced risk, as well as preparing for improved scalability and flex- ibility when the market returns to full strength. Whether through robotic process automation (RPA), document understanding, process mining and decision management, system integration, or workflow automation, automation technol- ogy is a central theme to remain competitive. At Cenlar, we are automating, for example, many of our controls with the goal of reducing manual tasks, freeing up our employees to do more creative and ana- lytical work. There's the added benefit that automation also helps remove the risk that comes with manual processes. Importantly, automation helps prevent errors, and create a faster, more efficient process for homeowners. James Vinci CTO, Selene Finance In 2023, several technology en- hancements will play an increas- ing role in making all employees more efficient, ultimately creating opportunities and a competitive edge. As mortgage companies continue to be driven by negative economic factors, efficiency and effectiveness remain key drivers. It is natural to focus on front- line and boarding automation activities, but usability on manual tasks, gaining insights within data, and back-end activities, like information security and compli- ance, are also critical. Selene has critical active initiatives with respect to: RPA in the contact center; artificial intelligence (AI) based document indexing and data extraction for servicing transfers and post-boarding quality reviews; compliance and data collection automation for information se- curity; and internal and external customer digital experience track- ing and optimization. We are also always working to improve how our on-premises and remote team members engage and interact. "There are enough lenders that have incorporated electronic loan closings into their processes today to create the kind of competitive pressure that will ultimately drive widespread adoption. " —Dominic Iannitti, President & CEO, DocMagic Inc.