Stonebridge has launched My Mortgage Partner, a new app designed to support its members stay connected with their customers from application through to remortgage and for years to come.
The launch comes after significant investment in the build as adviser firms place increasing emphasis on customer retention, recurring engagement and wider advice opportunities, particularly as borrowers approach the end of mortgage product offers in a competitive remortgage and product transfer market.
Available now and free to Stonebridge members, My Mortgage Partner gives ARs a digital presence in their customers’ pockets, helping them support borrowers during the mortgage journey, remain front of mind after completion, and create timely opportunities for future mortgage, protection and GI conversations.
Stonebridge has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in the development of My Mortgage Partner over the last 12 months, with more than 100 member firms taking part in focus groups to help shape the proposition before launch.
Customers can use My Mortgage Partner to upload documents, message their adviser, track key milestones and access useful financial education from smartphone, tablet or desktop. The app features the AR firm’s branding and, once the customer has signed up, it automatically syncs with Stonebridge’s wholly-owned adviser software, Revolution.
Once the mortgage completes, the app continues to support the relationship by displaying details of the customer’s mortgage and counts down to the end of their current deal, as well as providing details of their protection and GI policies. As a scheme end approaches, My Mortgage Partner automatically triggers remortgage alerts, giving advisers a natural reason to re-engage at the right time.
By keeping the AR firm’s brand visible between transactions, Stonebridge says the app will help future mortgage and protection conversations feel like a continuation of the existing customer relationship rather than a fresh conversation.
My Mortgage Partner also supports earlier and more relevant protection conversations by asking customers tailored questions as part of the fact find — an increasingly important focus for the industry following the FCA’s Pure Protection Market Study final report. The launch follows Stonebridge’s recent investment in a complete overhaul of its protection sourcing experience, which was designed to help advisers identify hyper-personalised recommendations even quicker.
Stonebridge developed My Mortgage Partner using both a world-class digital consultancy and its in-house engineering team, to ensure it could integrate fully with Revolution, reflect each member firm’s brand and evolve in line with adviser feedback, rather than relying on a generic third-party solution.
While some mortgage market solutions focus primarily on data capture, Stonebridge says My Mortgage Partner has been built around long-term customer engagement and retention.
Rob Clifford, Chief Executive at Stonebridge, said:
“For advisers, customer retention is not just about making contact at the end of a deal. It is about staying consistently visible, useful and relevant throughout the whole customer journey and for years after the initial transaction.
“My Mortgage Partner gives Stonebridge members a branded digital presence in their customers’ pockets, helping them support borrowers during the application, stay front of mind after completion and start future mortgage and protection conversations at exactly the right time.
“We have invested significantly in this because we believe technology should help advisers build stronger, more valuable customer relationships, not replace them – all with the pragmatic and valuable input from many of our member firms. This is another major step in our commitment to giving Stonebridge firms the tools they need to thrive and a competitive advantage.”
