Welcome to the In Focus interview, Richard. Let's start with you telling us a bit about yourself.
I've two teenage children and several pets who keep me busy with the usual dad jobs, and when I have some spare time, I enjoy getting outside for a round of golf. And I can't quite believe it but I have worked in financial services for over 25 years! Where did those years go?
You’re head of the Lender Relationship team at leading mortgage technology provider, Mortgage Brain. Tell us more about your role and what this involves.
As head of the Lender Relationship team, I am responsible for making sure that we support lenders in the delivery of lending products, specifically for the intermediary market, through Mortgage Brain’s range of technology and data-based comparison solutions. It’s a role that suits me perfectly as I am very much a people person and I love the fact that my day-to-day work is all about building relationships with great people.
I spend a lot of time meeting with lenders, getting to know them, and listening! You have to be very good at listening and asking questions in order to figure out what specific challenges a lender may be experiencing and how our technology can help them to tackle these. It’s key that we have the right solution, not just a solution, and that involves working in collaboration with lenders to make sure we get it spot on.
Previous to joining Mortgage Brain in 2020, I worked for the specialist lender Platform for close to 20 years, so I understand a thing or two about the issues that impact lenders. During those years, I gained valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities they face. I also know a lot of people in the industry, which helps when making connections and building trust.
I expect you’ve seen significant changes in the mortgage industry since you began your career 24 years ago. What would you say are the main challenges that mortgage lenders, particularly the smaller, more specialist lenders, currently face?
I’ve experienced all kinds of markets and industry challenges over the years. Most recently, we’ve seen a resurgence of specialist lenders, including exciting innovations from building societies, driven by increasing demand for non-standard mortgage products as more borrowers find themselves outside the typical lending criteria of mainstream banks. These lenders have focused on product development and adaptability, allowing them to cater to niche borrowers that larger, high street lenders might overlook. In fact, according to Smart Money People’s most recent Mortgage Lender Benchmark, building societies continue to dominate the mortgage market, delivering exceptional customer service, products and broker satisfaction. They are setting the bar high for other lenders.
However, despite smaller lenders having significant appeal, in terms of products and customer relationships, their size means that keeping on top of product and criteria updates, and sudden rate changes, can prove tricky. Unlike mainstream banks, smaller lenders don’t always have the resources internally to solely devote to this. They may also have to rely on manual processes for updating information, which can be time-consuming and potentially prone to errors. In addition, niche products which are tailored to specific customer needs, can can be more complex to update and maintain accurately across platforms. Given the volatility of the market over the past 18 months, staying on top of real-time product updates is potentially the largest challenge that smaller lenders have faced.
How important is responsiveness and real-time criteria data in this competitive landscape?
It’s vital. A key concern for all lenders, especially smaller lenders, is reputational risk linked to outdated information. Success rests on the hard-earned relationships and trust they have built with intermediaries. They have brilliant products and they are flexible in their understanding and underwriting of complex cases, so they offer an attractive alternative for those brokers looking to secure the ideal product for their clients. The last thing they want is for a broker to do all the leg work in terms of fact finding and sourcing to then discover that when they submit an application to a lender, the product they’ve pitched to their client is unavailable, as they no longer meet the criteria. Brokers get frustrated, their relationship with the borrower is tested, and the lender’s reputation is at stake. If a broker has an experience like this, it really does make them think twice about placing future business with that lender, which is a real shame, as smaller lenders and building societies provide a vital alternative to the mainstream banks.
This is where automation and technology is really making the difference and it’s something that at Mortgage Brain we are being asked about more and more. How can we use technology to stay on top of real-time criteria updates? As a result, we developed an API and also iframe solutions for lenders to use to maintain accurate criteria information on their websites and internal systems. They are proving to be incredibly successful and popular! We have signed up a number of high profile building societies, including Leeds Building Society and Mansfield Building Society as well as specialist lenders like Bluestone Mortgages and April Mortgages. To refer back to Smart Money People’s latest findings, the improvements made by building societies are attributed to the superior communication, online tools, and system efficiencies that they’re building.
Explain to us how APIs help building societies and smaller lenders ensure that their criteria is always accurate and up to date.
APIs offer numerous benefits, for all lenders, looking to improve their efficiency, accuracy, and competitiveness.
Our API, which is linked to Criteria Brain, enables automated communication between different software systems. In layman’s terms, a lender using the Mortgage Brain API can update their lending criteria once and, with the touch of a button, it then instantly updates this information across multiple platforms, including their intermediary and customer facing websites. This real-time automation through the API means that lenders can free up essential time and resources to concentrate on lending rather than being bogged down in updating multiple platforms.
Using an API also reduces the potential for errors which can happen when multiple platforms have to be manually updated. This real-time capability is crucial in maintaining accurate information so that brokers and customers always have access to the most current criteria data, reducing the risk of outdated information leading to lost deals.
An exciting feature of Mortgage Brain’s API is that it can be easily scaled to accommodate additional products, services, or increased traffic without requiring significant changes to the underlying systems. It’s completely scalable without the need for expensive redevelopment costs, meaning it’s a long-term investment worth making.
For lenders who have limited IT resources, how can you help?
Our development team can build an iframe solution which can be embedded into a lender’s website, aligns with their branding, and provides real-time, accurate criteria information.
Like the API, it means that maintaining updates is simple and quick – one update communicated automatically across multiple channels without the need to update each one manually.
What would you say to a mortgage lender looking to invest in technology to improve broker relationships and overall business success?
Ask themselves what are the challenges they’re facing at the moment and is there an opportunity where technology could help. For example, do you want to lower operational costs, increase overall efficiency, gain a competitive advantage, improve your broker relationships and reputation?
Speak to an experienced technology provider, one who knows the mortgage industry inside and out, and explore the options together. This is a partnership so any decisions you take must work for both of you. Think about your budget and your current systems. You want to be able to invest in technology which works with your current systems but is also flexible enough to scale up and adapt to your business as it grows. And it needs to be simple! Busy lenders do not have the time and resources to spend on embedding complex technology.
APIs and iframes are popular with all kinds of lenders. The reason that our solutions appeal is because we’re very happy to do the tech heavy lifting for them! Also, as a technology provider with specialist knowledge of the mortgage industry, Mortgage Brain is the expert at managing technology and systems. Lenders who partner with us, can rest assured that we will handle everything on the technology side, reducing the need for them to hire teams of IT professionals. So, it’s also cost effective in this way too.
What future innovations in APIs, iframes, or automation tools are you most excited about?
When it comes to innovation, there are infinite possibilities out there. As long as we continue to question, be curious and listen, then there will always be challenges to create solutions for. We’ve come a long way since the paper-based application form! Speaking of which, wouldn’t it great to create one single, online application form which, at the touch of a button, automatically completed the application forms of multiple lenders. One login, one application, multiple lenders contacted.
Now there’s a thought…
