The Mortgage Bankers Association convened its 2017 National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference & Expo in Chicago on March 26 – 29, 2017. Participants discussed the evolving role of technology in the mortgage space. The timely conversation comes as the National Association of Realtors’ 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends recently reported Millennials make up the largest share of homebuyers at 34%, with 92% of them turning to online resources to conduct their home searches.
During one panel, Mobilizing the Mortgage Experience, industry stakeholders weighed in on changing consumer expectations for mobile access to mortgages and the technology and regulatory considerations that go along with those changes. The panel was moderated by Matt Hansen, CEO of SimpleNexus, and featured representatives from Tavant Technologies, Sierra Pacific Mortgage and Fairway Independent Mortgage. Panel participants discussed consumer preferences for continuous and versatile accessibility and the challenge those expectations often pose for outmoded origination workflows.
The panel cited recent data, which shows that across all demographics, under the age of 64, consumers spent more time on smartphone apps than desktop computers. In 2016 alone, 878 billion minutes were reported used on American smartphones. Mortgage lenders will have to meet their consumers where they are and accommodate these preferences if they hope to remain competitive among prospective homebuyers, especially considering that nearly half of the US population, 42%, falls between the ages of 25 and 55.
The success of Zillow’s home buying and selling app illustrates the opportunities for mortgage lenders and venders that embrace technology at the onset. Last year, roughly 80% of all homes sold in the US were viewed on the Zillow app. This example proves that the housing market’s demands are changing and it’s up to the mortgage industry to adapt alongside it. Bringing the customer into the process at the beginning creates the competitive edge.
From eMortgages to mobilization, this year’s conference illustrated how the mortgage industry is ready to meet the challenge of innovation. Opportunities for lenders and servicers to rapidly and effectively automate business processes continue to expand. The conference’s Tech Showcase provided the perfect venue for Clarifire and other vendors to highlight how they are tackling these challenges. Participants could see firsthand how lenders and servicers could achieve operational success with mobile on-demand access to data, the capacity to self-serve and provide fast response times to any request. By offering real-time, bi-directional customer communication, with automated workflow that includes the customer, and distributes actionable tasks to your team, lenders and servicers are prepared to take the next step in mortgage mobilization.
Jane Mason, Founder and CEO
Jane has applied her vast experience (over 25 years) operating process-driven businesses to successfully redefine client-focused service. Jane has worked with expert programmers to apply cutting-edge web-based technology to automate complex processes in industries such as Financial Services, Healthcare and enterprise workflow. Her vision confirms Clarifire's trajectory as a successful, scaling, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider. A University of South Florida graduate, Jane has received many awards related to her entrepreneurial skills.
