The latest news about mortgage technology innovations include announcements about electronic imaging, banking applications for wireless phone and anti-money laundering software.
Equifax Mortgage Solutions touted its recent acquisition of Memphis Consumer Credit Association Inc. and its integration of Credit Financial Services this year.
As part of a master services agreement with Fidelity National Information Services Inc., eGistics Inc. will provide the company with tailored, on-demand image and data archive, management and delivery services to support several Fidelity processing operations, according to an announcement today.
eGistics’ digital architecture reportedly streamlines the archival, management and delivery of document images and data within a single, seamless platform, enabling Fidelity to accelerate the building of new image-based applications and decrease time-to-market for new applications.
“Image and data archival management and delivery are important functions that help us improve productivity and the value our financial services products offer,” said Randy Fluitt, Fidelity executive vice president, in the written statement.”
SureClose, Stewart’s online transaction management platform, has released SureScan, an integrated scanning solution that eliminates paper-based closing documentation and allows users to upload critical real estate documents, regardless of scanner, according to SureClose. The desktop scanning solution can be loaded onto any personal computer connected to the Internet with a twain-compliant scanner.
“SureScan was designed to enhance the efficiency of digitizing paper and moving it into SureClose,” Stewart said in the announcement. “The speed of document input and secure, guaranteed delivery positions SureScan as one of the premier technologies in appliance-based technology on the market today.”
ILOG, which claims that over 2,500 global corporations use its business rules management system to make better decision faster, said its system has helped increase the flexibility and agility of Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system. ILOG said its solutions were integrated in Fannie’s Desktop Underwriter in 2001 to help further automate the underwriting process.
“We remain focused on driving greater speed and agility within DU,” Fannie vice president Celina Binns was quoted as saying in the announcement. “We are pleased to work with ILOG to leverage their business rules management systems to help us reduce our time-to-market, improve operational efficiencies, and ultimately, offer our customers better service.”
Midwest Bank & Trust Co. selected GIFTSWEB EDD Anti-Money Laundering solution, GIFTS Software reported. The solution is comprised of five modules that can be implemented separately or in total to assist Midwest in complying with anti-money laundering regulations.
The solution’s subpoena/inquiry module allows Midwest to perform real-time inquiries against a database of transactions and respond to regulators, subpoenas or internal inquiries, according to the announcement. A profiler module provides anti-money laundering and terrorist financing detection scenarios and ability to filter transactional or customer data for specific information, including Sanction Lists. A patterning module allows comparison of individual or group account activity periodically to report unusual variances. Other modules automate interdiction list filtering of transactional and customer data via real-time or file-based interface and scan new accounts in real-time or batch against any sanction list in order to comply with the USA PATRIOT Act.
Genworth Financial Asset Management Inc. will run its mutual fund advisory, as well as its separately managed and unified managed account offerings, on CheckFree APL, according to an announcement today by CheckFree Corp.
“As we continue to grow our business with a focus on separately managed and unified managed accounts, we are committed to providing innovative, high-quality investment solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients,” said a Genworth senior vice president in the statement. “By integrating CheckFree APL into our managed account offering, we can leverage CheckFree’s proven engine to deliver best-in-class portfolio management, oversight, monitoring and reporting, and maximizing” separately managed accounts and unified managed account portfolios.
Starting today, BancorpSouth Inc. customers who subscribe to AT&T Inc.’s wireless service can download an “innovative” mobile banking application directly to their cell phone to view their account balances, transfer funds between accounts, and receive and pay bills, just as they do now through a computer. All information on the mobile banking application is password-protected and encrypted, according to an announcement.
“At BancorpSouth, a key emphasis is on offering our customers convenient, time-saving new ways of managing their money,” said Aubrey Patterson, BancorpSouth chairman and chief executive officer. “That is why we were the first financial institution to participate in a trial of mobile banking with AT&T and Firethorn [Holdings LLC], and that is why we are now making this application available to all of our customers.”
The overall reactions of BancorpSouth customer participants in the trial were “overwhelmingly positive,” Firethorn said in a separate announcement. Among the trial’s key findings were that 30 percent of the respondents would pay all of their bills using mobile banking, about 75 percent believed they could make more informed spending decisions, and 83 percent were likely to recommend mobile banking to others.
Other lenders that have signed on to offer the mobile banking service to its customers are Wachovia Corp., Regions Financial Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc., according to Firethorn, which will roll out a nationwide, multimillion-dollar consumer adoption and education campaign designed to make the mobile banking and payments market. Among the reasons cited by the three banks for choosing the application were “a proven business model for generating revenue through new account openings and increased share of wallet.”
“Today’s announcement represents a critical tipping point in the emerging mobile banking and payments industry and reflects a growing preference by the nation’s leading financial institutions for the Firethorn solution and federation strategy for going mobile,” Firethorn’s CEO said in the written statement.
