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Adapting to a Tech-Heavy World

Following in the footsteps of other industries, mortgage firms are starting to adopt new technologies like Application Programming Interfaces (API) in order to reduce errors and costs and speed up transactions. Fannie Mae surveyed senior mortgage executives back in February through its Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey to understand what lenders think about data strategy and innovation.

Tracy Stephan, Director of Economic and Strategic Research at Fannie Mae, analyzed the data and noted the key areas where lenders are using new technology in a blog post on the Fannie Mae site.

What Fannie Mae found is that although the industry has been slow to adopt, but about three in five mortgage lenders agree that their firm is making the best use of data for their business. However, most lenders call themselves “technology followers,” not early adopters, and less than half stated that the pace of technological innovation in the industry has been too slow.

Fannie Mae specifically tried to understand lenders’ experience with APIs and Chatbots. While around half of lenders surveyed are either using APIs in their process or have used them on a trial basis, very few lenders have looked into using Chatbots.

Lenders utilizing APIs said they do so primarily to integrate appraisal and verification information with their Loan Origination System. According to survey participants, loan production holds the greatest potential for APIs and Chatbots alike. Additionally, APIs may be used in the future to pay taxes and insurance.

“Today's consumers demand a simple and streamlined experience in all aspects of their life,” said Stephan in the post. “However, mortgage transactions are complex, involve many interdependencies, and require extensive collaboration. In other industries, APIs have become a crucial element of business strategies to deliver a seamless customer experience because they make data-sharing easier.”

According to Stephan, APIs can reshape the industry by boosting efficiency and speeding up the mortgage process. “Lenders who do not expect to adopt APIs in the near future may well find themselves being pushed to the sidelines. “

About Author: Seth Welborn

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