Modern Lender speaks to Hamza Behzad, Business Development Director, Finova about the future of mortgage technology and the pain points currently experienced by lenders.
Can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to join Finova?
I began my career over a decade ago as a graduate at Accenture. But as more and more firms adopted new technologies at a rapid rate, I wanted to do more than advise. I wanted to get closer to the technologies powering our industry and create positive outcomes for clients and their customers.
From that moment, I was keenly interested in fintech, with a particular focus on financial wellness and accessibility. Today, I find myself at Finova, where I work with financial institutions to make lending and savings journeys smarter, more efficient, and most importantly, customer-centric.
What are your immediate priorities in your first 90 days as Business Development Director?
My first task was to get closer to the existing market. This meant spending time with Finova’s existing customers, attending industry events and understanding our product offering. As a consultant, I’m now listening to banking executives, learning their pain points, and collaborating on finding the solutions. My ultimate goal is to help Finova scale as fast as possible so that our technology can benefit borrowers, brokers, and lenders.
Why do you think the UK’s mortgage market has struggled to keep pace with fintech innovation seen in other areas of financial services?
Firstly, I don’t think it is necessarily fair to compare the pace of change to other financial services. Choosing a mortgage is among the most important financial decisions a person will ever make. Unsurprisingly, this introduces a lot of hesitation into the process.
It’s also true that smaller UK lenders are struggling to capture a robust market share. But as more lenders roll out new product lines with complex risk profiles, and as the cost of change plummets, the economics are finally making sense. A lender doesn’t need to endure a five-year transformation programme. A SaaS solution can get a new product up and running in no time. The industry is changing, and it’s reaching an inflection point.
What innovations in mortgage technology excite you the most right now, and how do you see them being adopted across the industry?
One of the most exciting areas is the convergence of open data and automation, particularly how lenders can now receive real-time insights into an applicant’s financial situation through technologies like open banking, AI-driven underwriting, and identity verification. This shift means that the mortgage process can become faster, more accurate, and more accessible. And the adoption is no longer just a top-tier bank play. With the rise of modular SaaS solutions, like our very own Lending product, even mid-sized specialist lenders can deploy sophisticated journeys.
What do you see as the biggest pain points for lenders and brokers in today’s mortgage market, and how can technology help solve them?
One of the biggest pain points is fragmentation. Lenders and brokers rely on disjointed legacy systems, siloed data, and manual hand-offs, which increases the risk of errors. Technology can create connected, configurable platforms that bring together stakeholders, streamline communication, and surface insight across the value chain.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for Finova's role in shaping the future of mortgage technology and the wider homeownership journey?
Our aspiration is for Finova to act as the technological backbone of the UK mortgage ecosystem. That means delivering solutions that are not only scalable but also flexible enough to evolve with the market, from the largest lenders to the most agile intermediaries.
But beyond the technology, it's about reimagining homeownership. We want to make the entire journey simpler, faster, and more human. That’s a mission worth showing up for every day.
