TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/958155
18 | TH E M R EP O RT COVER STORY automated valuation modeling data that makes it possible for us to see a world where physi- cal appraisals become completely obsolete and significantly reduce the speed to closing." "Most of the existing mortgage software applications are focused on data collection and have limited usability. As a result, users are forced to work in multiple applications and to do calculations in spreadsheets and on paper and document their work in multiple places. The next generation of software emphasizes agile development and 'Design Thinking' to put users first," predicts Kolbrener. According to Leonard, "Technology will help drive efficiencies and enhance customer satisfaction in the financial services industry." She gives some examples, "Integration will extend technology through API enablement and provide a single access point for all business services, both internally and externally; the move toward digital will deliver highly secure, cloud-enabled applications with responsive design, deployed with touch enablement; and automation will allow financial services participants to deploy client-configurable and rules-based products, with extensive inherent workflow and process automation capabilities." "We have seen significant investment in origination software and digital platforms for the delivery of services. We have also seen the growth of API integration capabilities that encourage technology companies to provide services from many providers," said Ryan. "Technology is helping everyone get closer to the consumer and provide better experience and service. Costs and risk must continue to be driven out of the supply chain and improve quality. This will happen through technology solutions and shape the future in property servicing." However, the industry must start moving towards maintain - ing information in a format that can be processed, analyzed, and reported on by technology. "Systems must track all changes to loan terms, consumer disclosures, redisclosures, and final terms at loan closing. Images of documents are not sufficient. There must be data that is versioned and tracked throughout the life of every loan," said Roth. "Emerging technolo - gies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence will not provide benefits to the industry without access to that reliable and actionable data." The industry is also taking note of blockchain, which offers solutions for documenting that could make title searches and the need for title insurance obsolete as lenders quickly adapt to technol - ogy-enabled mortgage origination products, services, and solutions. "Technology offers the ability to create new products, automate, create efficiency, improve integra- tions, and so much more," said Vedder. "We continue to see an increased adaptation of the 'sprint' type methodology during IT implementation and builds. By allowing customer-driven changes during smaller, pre-staged rollouts, lenders can adjust requirements throughout the implementation process to reflect valuable input gained from their customer-base during quality control." Innovation Disruptors W hile third-party providers can offer the technology, it is important for lenders to foster a culture of innovation within the company to help answer and understand the changing needs of technology. "It's important for lenders to hire talent with the skill sets to support today, as well as, tomorrow's technology needs," said Boulos. "To keep great talent and understand how tech - nology changes can impact your organization, set up innovation centers that allow your teams to become familiar with new and evolving technologies." The culture of innovation is also needed to drive lenders to retain and manage data through the life of a loan. "It continues to be a challenge for lenders and the broader mortgage ecosystem to retain organized and actionable data about loans and disclosures during and after origination. For decades, the industry focused on paper. That legacy continues to restrict innovation," said Roth. "Technology can only cater to changes in financial services when it's not locked into the way a business operates today. Financial services technology only becomes a competitive advantage for deal - ing with change when it allows for data and rules to evolve to address those changes." For Goldman, Ally Bank was created to answer the need for innovation in lending. "Our bank was created during the financial crisis out of customers' need to want a better bank, not another bank. It is something we live and breath every day and this is the reason why we have used technology so extensively since the creation of our bank," he said. "All our products afford us to use technology to pass on the real value of using it to our customers." And lenders hear these voices as they look at innovative and disruptive technologies to enhance their operations and customer service. "When you add together these types of disruptions, along with technology like the GSEs' day one certainty technology, it's really for the first time that we see a possibility of the one-day mortgage come over the horizon and within sight," said Stubbs. RADHIK A OJHA, Online Editor at the Five Star Institute, is a graduate of the University of Pune, India, where she received her B.A. in Commerce with a concentration in Accounting and Marketing and an M.A. in Mass Communication. Upon completion of her master's degree, Ojha worked at a national English daily publication in India (The Indian Express) where she was a staff writer in the cultural and arts features section. Ojha also worked as Principal Correspondent at HT Media Ltd and at Honeywell as an executive in corporate communications. She and her husband currently reside in Dallas, Texas. You can contact her at Radhika. Ojha@theMReport.com. "Technology has helped us in differentiating all our products. It allows us to scale and affords us the opportunity to focus on customer service and experience. It also allows us to offer a better rate than some of our competitors in the market and reduce the operating costs." —Scott Goldman, Senior Director, Mortgage Servicing, Ally Bank