Enhancements to fraud prevention and loan lead generation topped the latest mortgage technology innovations.
Epitome Systems’ Enterprise Productivity Management On-Demand Business Process Platform was featured as a case study at a recent conference by TowerGroup. Craig Focardi, TowerGroup research area director, highlighted that Epitome’s technology, which was used to create the first end-to-end mortgage post-closing solution for First National Bank of Arizona, cut costs and optimized business processes in mortgage lending through key benefits such as significantly automated manual operations and faster loan delivery to investors, according to an announcement.
A partnership with Securian Financial Group will allow financial services provider clients of Open Solutions Inc. additional insurance-related products and services, and an integrated suite of innovative technology solutions and services.
Ellie Mae partnered with Access Business Technologies to provide hosting and managed services solutions to its customers, enabling them to outsource all software applications and IT functions. Access’ services include “state-of-the-art physical and data security, access control, disaster recovery and business continuity.”
Customers of Nomis Solutions can now access its Nomis Price Optimizer in a reliable, secure and high performance hosted environment, meaning Nomis’ team manages the hosting, configuration, maintenance and administration of the profit-based pricing solution. The company also announced the availability of Nomis Price Optimizer Suite 3.2, which enables banks and finance companies to evolve towards more targeted customer-centric pricing.
California-based New Enterprise Associates invested $20 million and NEA-IndoUS Venturs another $5 million in India-based ISGN Technologies Ltd., which provides complete solutions and platform based knowledge process outsourcing services to the U.S. mortgage industry, according to an announcement. The proceeds are intended to strengthen ISGN’s global delivery infrastructure, expand sales and marketing initiatives and significantly increase the company’s momentum, as over the next decade, “the Indian IT services industry will increasingly move up the value chain by providing value added KPO services to the world.”
Meanwhile, MISMO announced the release of three more data standards that complete the next phase of its effort to develop and promote such standards in the commercial/multifamily mortgage industry. Document Classification Version 1.1, Environmental Site Assessment Synopsis Version 1.1 and Work Order Request and Response Version 1.1, along with previously released Commercial Servicing Transfer Standard Version 1.0, are the first of many data standards planned to ultimately reduce costs, streamline processes, improve accuracy, increase data transparency, and boost investor confidence in mortgages as an asset class, according to an announcement.
The Freddie Mac Alliance selected Brooks Systems to provide compliance, through technology and consulting services, to members of the American Bankers Association through the Freddie Mac/ABA Alliance. Brooks, which touts that its tools and approaches make it far easier to check compliance and eliminate unnecessary financial risks, will help alliance members to comply with state anti-predatory and other lending statutes.
Technology advanced in mortgage fraud prevention.
Fidelity National Financial Inc. has selected ID Analytics ID Network, “the nation’s first and only real-time fraud prevention network,” to combat identity theft, ID Analytics Inc. announced. By joining the ID Network, Fidelity “will gain unique visibility and insight into the risk level of mortgage applicants and can protect more consumers and lenders from mortgage fraud.”
Interthinx said it launched a “powerful expansion” to its data sharing network by adding breakthrough analytics that allow it to “look across the massive amount of loan application data it receives daily, compare it to existing data in a way never before analyzed, and extract potential mortgage fraud schemes involving multiple participants and activities across the entire industry.” Unique, real-time analysis of lending risk will be achieved by examining borrower and third party “performance” based on historical transactions.
Platinum Data Solutions said it enhanced its OptiVal platform, its Web-based application that analyzes automated valuation model data from various vendors and determines the best performers by region data from various vendors. The new version assists lenders in their use of AVMs by allowing them to configure performance testing parameters.
In risk analytics, Quantrix recently unveiled the LoanDynamics Interface it developed for the new LoanDynamics Mortgage Credit Model by Andrew Davidson & Co., a provider of risk analytics and consulting services for fixed-income investors in the mortgage- and asset-based securities industry, according to a news release. The model allows mortgage issuers and investors “unprecedented” insights into the trends and factors that influence loan delinquency, default, and loss severity. The interface is “a desktop modeling solution that goes beyond traditional spreadsheet technology to enable professionals to develop models in greater depth and from multiple perspectives while improving productivity, accuracy, and transparency.”
The only technological activity in servicing was loan servicer Pecos Mortgage’s recent upgrade to Servicer3D, a loan accounting software of LSSI that replaces LSSI’s LoanBase SERVICER application. The upgrade simplifies the loan servicing process with easier access to portfolio documents and more efficient searching, sorting and querying for users, according to an announcement by LSSI.
In closings, Minnesota achieved its first electronic recording of a Level II mortgage document, U.S. Recordings Inc. announced. Level II e-recording includes documents generated in paper form, signed and notarized with a wet signature, then scanned and sent in electronic form to the county along with indexing data. The e-recording is expected to greatly increase the volume of mortgages sent to participating counties.
The only pricing technology was Home State Bank’s upgrade to Sollen Technologies’ Web-based pricing engine and loan product development solution, BestEx, according to a press release. With production of about $150 million annually, Home State decided on the technology to gain better control of the loan pricing process and the flow of business, as it allows “loan officers to be out in the field, price loans, submit requests and get confirmation of their lock on a fully automated basis.”
Mortgage lead technology innovations included Leads360 development of PointSync, a new software tool that allows a one-click connection between its LeadManager lead management system and Calyx Point, a provider of loan origination software. In addition to automatic exporting of data, the tool keeps LeadManager up to date on each loan officer’s deals as they move through the processing pipeline in Calyx Point, enabling managers to track loan officer performance.
Bankrate.com Inc. warned its advertisers it will increase its cost-per-click advertising rates by approximately 15 percent, starting July 1. The increase will apply to cost-per-click rates for mortgage, home equity, and other products.
Astonish Results wants to take mortgage companies beyond the desire just to generate leads. It announced that it is the first to offer a complete digital marketing and training system, largely comprised of business consulting, to help mortgage companies navigate through recent changes. The company indicated that to survive, companies must have a clear Internet strategy and take their business beyond the “flawed, ‘loan officer centric’ business model” that causes significant challenges to company growth, branding and profitability.
In loan origination systems, a recent MortgageFlex Systems Inc. User Conference included a preview of LoanQuest.NET loan origination system, a rewritten version of the LoanQuest Windows LOS system utilizing the new Microsoft .NET 3.0 Framework. The rewritten product will be available in the fall to provide a strategically competitive platform for customers to build their businesses around for “many years to come.“
“With the maturity of the Microsoft .NET 3.0 platform, we are bringing data integration to fruition, sharing information from the origination side of the business with the servicing stage and onward to the investor level,” LoanQuest said in the announcement.
The Freddie Mac Alliance selected Brooks Systems to provide compliance, through technology and consulting services, to members of the American Bankers Association through the Freddie Mac/ABA Alliance. Brooks, which touts that its tools and approaches make it far easier to check compliance and eliminate unnecessary financial risks, will help alliance members to comply with state anti-predatory and other lending statutes.
