To explore how brokers view the arrival of AI and what it means for the industry, Mortgage Finance Gazette’s Rated for Service 2026 invited brokers to answer a series of questions.

When asked about the impact of digital innovation (automated underwriting, chatbots, online portals) on the quality of lender service, nearly half (48%) reported that it was positive, 24% very positive, 14% negative, 12% little or no impact, and just 2% very negative.

One broker commented: “Automations are making the underwriting process much more efficient. However, chatbots have proven to be ineffective, often requiring you to speak to an agent regardless.”

In terms of the future impact of digital innovation on lender service quality, 51% believed it would be positive, 21% very positive, 13% little or no impact, 10% negative and just 4% very negative.

“We are moving in the right direction,” one broker felt. “Lenders just need to remember that this is a very people-oriented business and technology cannot replace everything.”

Asked how lender engagement with brokers and clients was likely to change in the next two to three years due to AI advancements, the majority (35%) believed it would ‘improve a little’, followed by 23% who thought it would ‘greatly improve’, 21% who were ‘not sure’, 14% who viewed it as a ‘massive game changer’ and 7% who felt it would make no difference.

However, there were some concerns, with one broker fearing that lenders would use AI to “push brokers out of the mainstream market”. When looking at whether current lender service levels met Gen Z and Millennial expectations, responses were almost evenly split: 56% said yes, 44% said no.

One broker commented: “Companies like Amazon have exacerbated the expectation of instant decisions. Many people are not used to waiting.” However, another broker remarked: “Younger clients still value personal contact, so they aren’t yet expecting faster processing.”

Although many brokers seem ready to embrace AI, undoubtedly the challenge will be striking the right balance.

All Rated for Service data is accessed via the dashboard. To access the rankings data for each assessment area, simply select the Ranking button on the lender category of your choice. You can then filter the data based upon the ranking for each assessment area to determine descending/ascending lender performance.

Factor analysis is also available for each lender category to enable benchmarking across a panel of lenders versus the average score for each assessment area. This can be filtered by broker type and case load, providing tailored benchmarks for individual brokers (max. of five lenders).

Please see the full dashboard below: