We’ve been having some very interesting internal discussions about disruption, why we should be talking more about innovation and what actually drives disruption in the mortgage industry – or any industry.
One of our conclusions is that disruption isn’t what most people believe it is. It can’t be driven by a vendor, not even a great technology vendor. It only comes from companies who have the courage to change the way the business has been done in the past, usually through a partnership with a great vendor.
It must be the company who owns the innovation process because they control all of the processes. The vendor may come to them with ideas and opportunities (we do that for our clients all the time), but it’s up to the lender or servicer to actually implement it, whether that comes in the form of a new technology to use internally or to fulfill its offerings to their customers.
Technology vendors can talk about disrupting an industry, but if no one invests in their so-called disruptive technologies nothing will ever change.
Is Disruption in the tool or the user?
I think we can agree that innovation starts with the mortgage servicer. But the outdated technologies that these companies have been using for years makes this almost impossible for them to do.
This is exactly why we developed our new mortgage servicing platform. Servicers must be free to innovate if there is to be any hope of industry disruption.
And that’s exactly what our industry needs now.
If you’re in the mortgage servicing business, you don’t need to be convinced of this point. You know your business has been under increasing regulatory oversight, and will likely continue to be. You know your costs are increasing, as a result, and your existing servicing technology is probably not allowing you to take the actions required to change that.
Vendors certainly aren’t doing anything to change that, even in this down market. We’re hearing stories from lenders, referring to their loan origination side, that some technology vendors are now charging them as much as $180 per loan because they aren’t reaching their contract minimums. How could they be in this market?
This doesn’t help the industry innovate. It drives companies out of business, which is one kind of disruption but certainly not what we’re looking for.
Mortgage servicers — and originators as well — need to drive their own innovation, to disrupt their own businesses in order to streamline their operations, increase their efficiencies, lower costs and remain competitive and compliant. To do that, they need better software.
How to recognize great new servicing software
Because we build it, we could just go down our list of features and benefits to illustrate what we feel lenders should be looking for now. Let’s take the higher road.
In a perfect world, how would a company recognize a potentially disruptive technology that they could use to provide real innovation for their internal or external customers?
In order to achieve this, the platform would need to have several key features and functionalities that allow it to meet the needs of both the servicer and their borrower in ways the current players in the industry cannot.
First and foremost, the platform would need to be user-friendly and intuitive. This means that it should be easy for users to navigate and find what they are looking for without having to spend a lot of time searching. The user interface should be visually appealing and provide a seamless experience across different devices and platforms. In our case, we took what we learned from four decades of LOS development experience and built it all into our new servicing platform.
The platform should also be highly scalable, able to handle large volumes of data and transactions without slowing down or crashing. This is particularly important in our industry, where failing to meet borrower expectations can drive them to the regulator in frustration. In our business, this kind of reliability is built in from day one.
Another key feature of a disruptive software platform is the ability to leverage new technologies and innovations. This could include the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide personalized recommendations or predictive analytics that allow users to make better decisions. It also means a robust API-based infrastructure allows the servicer to work with anyone they want.
In addition, the platform should be customizable, allowing users to tailor it to their specific needs and preferences. This could include the ability to personalize the user interface, set up notifications and alerts, or integrate with other software tools and platforms. This is perhaps our strongest selling point. We never end an implementation until the client has what they said they wanted when we started.
When you put software like this into the hands of mortgage servicers, wonderful things happen. When they can finally take control of their process, instead of being driven into workflows by older technologies, they are free to create wonderful things.
What could you create with better servicing software? You owe it to yourself and your company to find out. Reach out to us today for more information.