Digitization and Automation: The Proven Ways for Lenders to Increase Profitability

1. Digitization and Automation: The Proven Ways for Lenders to Increase Profitability The first week of October came with some robust news for the mortgage sector. The average mortgage interest rate on both the 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage slipped giving a boost to the buying and refinance surge. Since August, average rates each week have continued to hang near record lows, and they have contributed to an unusually active September homebuying season. There has been a major storm in the housing market courtesy of the high buyer interest combined with favorable mortgage rates. The lower rates are also good news for homeowners who want to refinance their mortgage and lock in a lower rate. All these developments have meant that mortgage lenders are dealing with tremendous volumes and the queue for refinance is extremely high considering many lenders are facing a backlog of applications. In such volatile situations, lenders are often left working overtime, scrambling to hire staff only to let them go when the volume goes down. Also, with profit margins running slim, lenders must maintain healthy bottom lines, while considering their options for scaling up the business and taking care of profitability. One way for them to reduce their production expenses is to leverage technology. Lenders need to arm themselves with the right kind of technology to fast- track customer onboarding, reduce manual efforts and errors. As a lender, if you worry about how much it would cost to invest in such advanced technology, there’s an easier way: you could collaborate with third-party vendors. There are niche players who can help with the right kind of technology to improve operational efficiencies, save time, and reduce costs.

2. One such company is Visionet. Visionet strives to offer premier services to its lender clients to ensure they are able to limit costs in loan origination and increase market share. Visionet’s flagship solution is its cutting-edge VLR. VLR is equipped with numerous features that provide a stellar experience to clients: AI/ML-powered technology to deliver high quality, cost-effective solutions VLR enables lenders to process large volumes of document with a high degree of accuracy and precision. A cost-effective solution, VLR provides a truly digital experience to mortgage lenders to stay competitive. It uses state-of- the-art technology and high-end technical processes to ensure that all data in the mortgage process is properly classified, indexed, and extracted and that all the business-critical information is available to lenders in real-time. VLR enables lenders to process large volumes of documents with a high degree of accuracy and precision. Along with higher borrower satisfaction, lenders enjoy the benefits of faster loan disbursals and reduced operations costs. VLR utilizes advanced AI/ML-based OCR technology to deliver over 98% accuracy in document processing. It offers automation support in document classification, validation, indexing, and data extraction while integrating with standard document management systems (DMS) for any mortgage loan workflow. VLR also helps speed up due diligence by leveraging automation through machine learning capabilities. The advanced OCR technology is an evolution from the manual document classification and data extraction process. VLR is also a robust, open, enterprise-level architecture. It works as a web, workflow, and rules-based system and is ideal for any document-intensive workflow within the lending lifecycle, including loan setup, loan boarding, pre, and post- closing operations, and audits. It helps reduce the cost of loan origination by more than 30%.

3. Easy to integrate with leading Loan origination systems With the mortgage process becoming more comprehensive thanks to the database of clients, prospects, and leads becoming larger and more complex, lenders have to choose the right technology platform to stay competitive. It is also important to take into account the seamless integration of the tech platform with leading loan origination systems. Seamless integration allows lenders to more effectively and securely share data to drive quality and efficiency in the loan origination process. VLR is fully integrated with Encompass by Ellie Mae, so that borrower loan files can be processed faster. 24 X 5 Support to business users to ensure quicker user adoption VLR offers constant support 24 X 5 while providing continuous maintenance for the system and keeping it updated with industry and regulatory changes. Why partnering with Visionet makes overall business sense Along with VLR, Visionet also adopts an all-encompassing technology approach that promises maximum profitability to clients, helping them transform their operations while scaling effectively. One of the biggest benefits of joining hands with Visionet is that it offers a mortgage-sensitized ODC set-up of the right size to help clients drive business by acting as virtual extensions of their operating environment. Through the ODC, Visionet supports the business with agility allowing the client to focus entirely on their business goals. With its portfolio of specially designed industry-specific solutions, Visionet has hand-held clients to improve their business performance even during tough times. Visionet is also known to assist clients in precisely meeting compliance regulations and avoid a significant amount of time, costs, and efforts spent. Visionet’s compliance solutions accurately verify hundreds of business rules and regulatory standards in no time. The company is also known for offering domain expertise for agile, nimble, quick operations to clients. In a sector like a mortgage where time is of the essence, Visionet offers quick onboarding procedures and immediate start of operations. The company works

4. extensively with clients to create and implement uniform procedures across their departments for improvement in TAT. It is time that lenders move faster towards solid digital experiences to stand strong. But it is also particularly important to choose the right partner who can offer effective technology that helps enhance strategic skillsets and ultimately move ahead of the competition.