Independent Banker - July 2023 - 64

Guest Experts:
Lending
Is There a Single " Right " Answer
to Implementing Digital Lending?
Challenge/ Solution: There is broad consensus that digital lending is the future. Where there is less agreement is what will that future
look like and how to go about achieving it. Opinions and strategies seem to diverge over what is the right balance and whether end-toend
transformation is the only way to harness the power of digital lending. But the great thing about technology is that you don't always
need to do it all at once.
Our clients tend to fall into one of two " camps " .
Camp #1: Prefer a seamless end-to-end borrower experience
through a self-serve process that can be entirely remote. (A
subset shares the same ultimate vision, but for various reasons
are taking an incremental approach, building out their solution
one component at a time.)
For example, we've seen one client has experience a significant
increase in leads and pull through using our borrower-facing
point-of-sale solution. Their customers can use the POS to get
instant feedback on their home valuation, available home equity
and loan options. By providing a minimal amount of information,
they receive a firm decision on CLTV and pricing in 5 to 7
minutes.
Depending on the customer's preference, all interaction can be
done online including giving consent to collect and verify bank,
asset and employment information, uploading documents and
responding to questions from LOs or processors. Customers can
also select their initial draw, provide account information for where
it should be sent and even schedule a closing at their convenience
which can take place at a branch or remotely. The complete
process from initial inquiry to finish can take as little as one week
(depending on the transaction type).
Camp #2: Prefer to keep the " personal " in-branch origination
experience. In this approach, they aren't tampering with the frontend
of their home equity process. Instead, they are digitizing their
back-office and vendor management processes to significantly
reduce turn times and take cost out of the process.
We're seeing several of our clients taking the best of both worlds'
approach to home equity by implementing a core component
but still originating home equity transactions in-person. This way
they're able to keep pace with growing home equity volume by
using our settlement services ordering technology to automate
back-office manual processes.
Each approach leads to improved ROI and customer experience.
Community banks are in a unique position to capitalize on the
growing home equity market but need to implement solutions
based on the approach that's right for them and the customers
they serve. In some cases, it will be an end-to-end, digitally
transformative initiative. Others will be more plug-and-play that
focus on a single component but transform backend processes,
like a settlement services ordering platform. But the bottom line
is that both approaches are changing the future for home equity
lenders and most importantly, benefiting the customers they serve.
Craig Austin, Chief Revenue Officer, FirstClose // craig.austin@firstclose.com // 877-677-3282 (Toll Free)
https://www.firstclose.com/icba/
Independent Banker - July 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - July 2023
