This pandemic has accelerated digitalisation across numerous sectors, including financial services.

The instant change meant that those who already have digitalised operations gained a competitive edge, whilst others are now playing catch up.

The mortgage market has sometimes been slower on FinTech adoption compared to other sectors. However, embracing these technologies is more vital than ever and is integral to improving customer services and boosting business recovery in a post-Covid world.

Automation

This pandemic has particularly highlighted the need for automation to deliver a better level of digital service to customers.

Since the pandemic, mortgage lenders have come under serious pressure trying to assist their customers in a crisis, many managing the introduction of mortgage holidays.

The instant spike has put a serious strain on lenders’ operations, with customers being placed on hold for hours on end. Those which were better prepared had a specific route designed on their website to direct customers to online services to avoid overloading their call centres.

Those which have been encumbered by their legacy systems are increasingly understanding the value of automation.

A lot of simple customer queries are falling on the shoulders of ever-learning and increasingly sophisticated AI-powered customer service bots, allowing many people to effectively look after themselves. This frees up the time of the actual advisers to tackle the more complicated situations and more vulnerable customers.

Utilising AI also means services can be developed to become more customer-centric based on their data, delivering more tailored products. Lenders need to use technology which can help homebuyers get the keys to their property faster and customise engagement for each individual customer.

Video interactions

Even though meetings have dropped, inbound enquiries have not. Although the property market has been on hold for the majority of lockdown, there has been an influx of interest in mortgage holidays, remortgages and product transfers.

Virtual meetings and conferences have allowed the market to continue working and for many, it’s become a preference due to increased efficiency and flexibility.

Alongside giving customers autonomy, advisers can also automate parts of their process to make workflows as efficient as possible.

Advisers are still in constant contact with their customers, possibly even more so with greater numbers of customers getting in touch due to uncertain times. With a sharp increase in calls, it is integral frontline teams are efficient with their time to provide the most value to customers.

There are a growing number of FinTech tools designed to increase efficiencies for advisers. For example, auto-transcription tools transcribe customer conversations automatically, removing hours of additional administration.

The conversations are stored for review or auditing purposes with metadata automatically added and transcribed.

Simple differences like the ability to copy and paste content rather than having to write it up manually enables staff to cover more ground, more quickly.

Meanwhile, tools that automatically add metadata to records for swift search and retrieval can create a step change in review times enabling teams to drive huge operational efficiencies, improve customer outcomes and reduce complaints through faster resolutions of disputes.

In addition to time savings, storage of these interactions is beneficial to a company’s risk management strategy by providing evidence of compliant conversations for external audits.

Customer-centric

It’s fair to predict that digitalisation of the mortgage sector will remain prevalent post-pandemic and the mortgage market can no longer afford to be behind the curve.

Though integrating technology is important, implementing the right technology is integral. Mortgage lenders need to deliver customer-centric offerings which unlock benefits specific to their client base.

Take audio transcription for example, the tools are only truly beneficial if they’ve been specifically designed for the financial sector.

If the technology is unable to detect the industry-specific terminology used in conversations, then the information transcribed is no longer useful as it will not resemble the exact conversation.

Misinterpreted words will make the original conversation hard to decipher and advisers may lose vital client information, meaning they have to refer back to the customer to regain the same information which could possibly erode the trust.

Tools need to utilise AI that has been trained on the specific nuances used in the sector and detailed financial language for it to be effective.

Of course improving the accuracy of transcripts is barely scratching the surface of AI’s potential in the mortgage industry.

Transcribing audio data into a more structured format is the starting point for all manner of more advanced use cases.

Firms are increasingly turning to AI-driven solutions to support advisers in everything from automating parts of their admin to free up time which can be spent with customers, intelligently manage risks at scale and unearth new customer insights.

Wider adoption of technology has been extremely beneficial to the sector. Before lockdown, the industry was making moves to become more digitally-orientated, however this accelerated rate of adoption means mortgage brokers now have a competitive advantage by offering customers greater choice, efficiency and possibly lower cost sooner.

There are still going to be a lot of changes in the sector, and companies need to be sure they have systems that are proactive and adaptable to the ever-changing market.

Jonathan Drechsler is head of business development at Recordsure