At Loyalty360, we talk to brands on a daily basis about a myriad of opportunities and best practices related to customer loyalty, customer engagement, voice of the customer, customer experience, and the rapidly changing technologies that can help marketers achieve success in those areas.
When it comes to keeping pace with those rapidly changing technologies, it’s incumbent upon marketers to keep track of what can help propel certain customer-facing aspects. For mortgage lenders, according to a new survey from Capsilon Corporation, one of their most difficult challenges is related to reducing costs through automation technology.
Given the fact that 70 percent of mortgage lenders indicated that they expect total loan product costs to continue to rise in 2017, finding the right technology to automate certain functions can help lower expenses and enhance the customer experience.
The survey, which was conducted during the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA’s) Annual Convention and Expo 2016 (held Oct. 23-26) in Boston, showed that only seven percent of respondents reported that they expect total loan production costs in 2017 to be “somewhat lower” or “significantly lower” than in 2016.
The survey, which polled more than 100 executives from leading mortgage lenders, also revealed that more than nine out of ten of the respondents are somewhat or very interested in technology that automates key steps along the mortgage loan process, and 86 percent expect to spend more in 2017 versus 2016 on technology to reduce loan production costs by enabling a digital mortgage process.
Here are some key statistics related to the importance of automated technology for mortgage lenders:
45 percent of the respondents stated that automating key steps in their company’s loan production process is most important.
37 percent stated that automating both the consumer experience and the loan production process are equally important.
15 percent stated that automating the consumer experience during the application process is most important.
“The survey results clearly indicate lenders expect loan production costs to continue to rise, and they are looking to technology to reduce costs with automation,” said Sanjeev Malaney, chief executive officer of Capsilon. “In developing their digital strategies, lenders are right to focus on automating key steps in the loan production process, as this is where technology can deliver the speed, data integrity, and cost savings they need to gain a competitive advantage.”
When asked what issues their companies are most concerned with:
73 percent of the respondents stated implementing the right technology.
51 percent cited rising loan production costs.
36 percent stated improving customer experience/customer satisfaction.
16 percent cited longer loan turn times.
The risk of regulatory penalties, hiring and retaining employees, and complying with TRID were each cited by fewer than 10 percent of the respondents.