ADOPTING MODERN TECHNOLOGY Tanjir Sugar, director at Mortgage Magic, believes that the industry as a whole needs to work to make technology easier to understand and handle, for both customers and brokers. "What we have to understand is that brokers themselves are not tech experts, so we must simplify in order to help them in assisting customers, he says "Technology is here to stay, and having an advanced tech platform and offering improves efficiency and enhances the customer's journey. IMPROVING BROKER UPTAKE For example, Sugar says: "An efficient platform is one that connects aspects of the technological process with a mobile app for the clients and greatly improves the journey and overall satisfaction People are used to using a mobile on a daily basis, therefore if they can complete steps such as a fact-find electronic verification and track progression on their phone, this improves the client's journey. Sugar believes that in the future mobile banking could assist with the speed and efficiency; however, currently he does not think lenders are prepared to allow for this shift. Sugar expresses the importance of simplification, he says: "If you provide a client with too many options they do not know what to choose, this is why it is important to find the right balance. Give a client something that works and is effective Tech does not need to be overly complex, the point is to improve efficiency and speed up processes. PATH OF FULL INTEGRATION Sugar agrees that this will take work from the market: "This is the age of collaboration. The more we collaborate across the industry the easier it will become to create a platform which combines all aspects of the mortgage journey with all parts of the industry involved, will significantly positively impact the market . “A platform like this could reduce the home buying process from six months to a few days-it is possible.” Sugar says: "At Mortgage Magic, we are open to any kind of integration; I believe that full integration between service providers to advisers and tech companies is fundamentally important to the industry. From our perspective, what we seek to understand is where advisers and tech companies want to integrate within our systems. Sugar explains that once this has been established Mortgage Magic is willing and able to begin to collaborate and integrate its systems. However, it is not a simple process, he warns: "The main obstacles are money and time, it will happen eventually. Sugar agrees that technology prior to the financial crash was further along than it is currently. He adds: "There was a massive technology input seen around 2008 as brokers moved away from paper-based material to digital in order to process applications. “From that point until now there has not been much innovation within the financial services sector. This is largely due to the industry being heavily regulated however, now we are starting to see the implementation of platforms to assist with the process.” MOVING FORWARD There is a lot of drive in the market to progress, not least due to the necessity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The consensus is that this will work best if the market moves forward together, working towards better integration at the same time as innovation. However, Sugar says: "Whoever has a deeper pocket and understands the technology will be ahead in the game. Moving together at the same pace? I cannot see this happening; however, I do believe there will be progression across the board. In the tech sector, you either evolve or dissolve. Sugar says: "Technology must be at the heart of a business, you constantly have to innovate and evolve in order to compete In the tech space, if your system works you will probably dominate the marketplace.”
News Source Link:
https://issuu.com/mortgageintroducer/docs/mortgage_technology___may_2021/20