Paper is the Past

By Tim Anderson

Today, digital technology is driving more of the loan transaction away from paper to online. The industry is realizing that it’s time to get the paper out of our systems and manual processes. Paper documents take more time to process, require more people to validate, and key information from and follow-up efforts to track down missing pages, signatures, or total file loss.

For example, delivering a correct closing disclosure (CD) to the borrower three days before closing highlights just how difficult it is to get everything right and on time in a paper world.

Ensuring proof of compliance on confirming something like receipt of delivery is next to impossible in a paper world. Taking the mortgage process fully electronic will be the only way to ultimately ensure a totally verifiable, auditable compliant process.

Beyond the improvements gained by eliminating the paper process, digital collaboration during the loan transaction promises a better consumer experience from the start. For lenders, the increase in operational efficiencies and consistency are measurable. Overall, a digital process ensures greater data and document integrity, compliance and control.

Digitizing the mortgage process has the potential to greatly improve both productivity and the customer experience. Lenders who incorporate a digital workflow gain efficiency, better satisfy borrower expectations for collaboration and communication, and ultimately capture more market share.

• Go from a 50-minute to 15-minute closing
• Eliminate last minute surprises at the closing table
• Significantly reduce time and cost
• Close without exceptions
• Ensure a “consistently clean and clear” closing every time
• Better authentication and security (reduce fraud)
• Tamper evident seal on data and documents to protect data and document integrity
• Differentiates yourself in the marketplace
• Ensure greater service
• Ensure better loan quality and compliance

The technology is available and the process, albeit not widespread, is gaining momentum. Selling something that everyone else already does and has makes it a commodity. Digital Mortgages are for those that want to introduce a new way of doing business that gives you a competitive market advantage. It presents a new opportunity to truly differentiate yourself in an otherwise crowded  mortgage market. With immense regulatory pressure looming, historical methods will no longer be sufficient. And, as more organizations discover the demands of the marketplace, and today’s borrower, more parts of the lending transaction will happen electronically.