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Latest mortgage tech developments are ‘tip of the iceberg’ – Barclays

by: Sidney Wager, intermediary partnerships director, Barclays
  • 06/10/2016
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Latest mortgage tech developments are ‘tip of the iceberg’ – Barclays
In recent weeks we’ve seen interesting and informative articles from a mortgage brokerage, a mortgage club, and a software/systems provider tackling a similar hot topic within the mortgage market.

Based around the technological revolution and robo-advice, they all provided clarity of thought regarding the impacts on their business and offered views from their particular angle of the marketplace. It was encouraging that they all shared a similar mentality and common goal.

Richard Pike, sales and marketing director of Phoebus Software, said: “Robo-advice, virtual reality and behavioural selling are inevitably on the way, and those who embrace these technological enhancements will undoubtedly get ahead of the game.”

Phil Whitehouse, managing director, MCI Mortgage Club, said: “We may not be anywhere near having a market where robo-advice is the norm – and, indeed, we may not want that – but that’s not to say we can’t be pushing for further advancements in technology.”

Matt Lowndes, managing director of Coreco, added: “My view is that technology is here to help and assist the customer journey, I’m not that bothered at the moment if an AI super computer is quicker at sourcing a mortgage than a professional mortgage broker, but I am bothered about the service that underpins what we do as an industry.”

These comments really help to outline how service providers, distributors and the end advice process is not only fully aware of the impact of technology but also how important it is to embrace the right elements to best support their customers/clients – whoever they might be.

In another article – Rise of the machines: Why lenders must embrace the technology revolutionDavid Catt, chief operating officer, Hometrack pointed out that: “The ‘always on’ digital age in which we live means consumers now expect companies to be able to communicate in a fast, accurate and relevant manner. The challenge for mortgage lenders is keeping pace with this technological change to ensure they remain competitive.”

So what are lenders doing? Well, I can obviously only speak from a Barclays perspective, but we are constantly responding to customer needs and introducing a range of system enhancements and online support solutions. And we’re certainly not the only lender to be doing so. In a 24/7 world lenders have to offer access and interaction via a range of mobile devices to all types of customers including intermediary partners. In terms of specifically meeting intermediary needs, a lender’s online offering needs to be a one-stop-shop so that business can be placed and progressed quickly, simply and efficiently. Technological innovation has to improve and simplify the end-to-end process for intermediaries. This includes functionality such as interest rate calculators, knowledge articles and ‘how to’ guides, mortgage application updates, online chats, and task scheduling.

From a consumer perspective, a prime example of technological integration is the further evolution of AVMs. If implemented correctly, this functionality will help reduce time to completion by cutting property valuation times, which in turn will allow surveyors more capacity to focus on the more complex cases.

The above, coupled with general consensus of opinion across the marketplace, demonstrates that we’re ready to embrace and embed technology throughout the industry – something which might not have always been the case. We have only seen, and applied, the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the available and evolving digital technology. These are exciting times. The intermediary mortgage market should remain a place where expertise, experience and service are augmented by technology not overtaken by it and where integration with the digital world serves to improve the client journey and satisfaction levels.

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