New solutions on the horizon

As the mortgage industry continues evolving, so too is the technology that helps brokers close their deals faster

New solutions on the horizon
As the mortgage industry continues evolving, so too is the technology that helps brokers close their deals faster.

Newton Connectivity Systems continues leading the technological vanguard in the mortgage industry, as it’s just unveiled a secure portal for B lenders to use. Newton’s VP of Broker Experience says the portal—which will connect to Velocity, an automated data system the company launched at the beginning of this year—timely, given the imminent B20 guidelines, which many believe will vastly augment business for alternative lenders.

“There’s definitely going to be a lot more need for it with the upcoming rule changes,” said Kevin Dear. “To be able to have direct connection from Velocity to the alternative lender so they can have a secure portal is important.”

In January, Newton will launch a customer portal to expedite every facet of transactions. Dear says the future of the mortgage business will revolve around smoother customer journeys, for which electronic correspondence is part and parcel. The portal will allow customers to upload all necessary documentation directly to the broker.

“We’re investing in customer assets through Velocity that will allow the client to engage with the broker in more electronic means whenever they decide to do so,” he said. “This portal is the starting point to creating a smoother experience pre- and post-funding.”

Newton will also be introducing electronic signatures in February, further reducing transaction times.

Another piece of technology that launched this year, and is sure to gather more steam, is BrokrBindr. According to its co-founder and customer advocate, Joseph Valenti, the software is intended to organize, simplify and hasten transactions.

“It helps (brokers) get their work done by eliminating a third of their work day, by getting rid of the mechanical tasks,” said Valenti. “BrokrBindr takes the process of going through documents and simplifies it to 15 seconds. You can determine what you’ve already looked at and approved quickly.

“It’s a document manager, a task manager, a transaction manager, and it’s not like anything used before. It’s a workflow management tool common in other industries, like the financial services industry, but brokers haven’t seen them before.”

BrokrBindr has a few more benefits, though. For one, it simplifies the entire process for customers—who probably find the whole thing onerous to begin with—and it keeps brokers organized.

Arguably of most value, however, is that BrokrBindr lets brokers retain ownership of their contacts.

“Another set of brokers use the tools that are handed to them by their banners—DLC, Verico, M3,” said Valenti. “The data in most jurisdictions with most of the companies belongs to the banners, or someone other than the broker, so if they ever decide to make some changes to their arrangements, they’ll very uncomfortably discover they don’t own the data. The customer relationships they’ve fostered for five, seven, 10 years don’t belong to them and they’ll leave empty handed. So owning your own data turns out to be a particularly important benefit of BrokrBindr. It’s portable and you take it with you wherever you go.”


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