Five lenders will be piloting new predictive mortgage modelling software from Mortgage Broker Tools which will help them take a ‘smarter, more data-driven approach to product development’.

The software, called MBT Sandbox, is designed to enable lenders to best build, price and deliver improved mortgage propositions. It gives them real-time data and advanced analytics to help support decision-making around products, pricing, criteria and affordability.

Within the Sandbox, more than 60 criteria elements can be edited, including loan-to-value, maximum loan by mortgage type, repayment type, term, age, maximum income and more. Lenders can also edit initial and reversion rates and stress rates, to see the impact on pricing once criteria and affordability are taken into account.

Mortgage Broker Tools says this data-driven decision-making will also help lenders meet the requirements of impending Consumer Duty rules.

Mortgage Broker Tools chief executive Tanya Toumadj says: “Consumer Duty is just around the corner. The new regulations will put greater emphasis on lenders demonstrating products have been developed with fair value in mind to meet particular customer requirements – and this will require data to show rationale.

“By more accurately targeting customer types, lenders will be able to more easily demonstrate the approach they have taken and their reasoning why they believe the product will result in a positive customer outcome.”

Toumadj adds this will help the five lenders in the pilot to ensure they are able to meet both their regulatory obligations and commercial objectives by taking ‘a smarter, more data-driven approach to product development’.