IMLA recently invited the Smart Money People to one of our regular networking sessions, to present the findings of their H1 2021 Lender Benchmarking report. The findings suggested that, overall, adviser satisfaction levels with lenders are improving, to 80.3% from 77.8% in H2 2020. Lenders will be pleased that they have been able to improve intermediary satisfaction levels during a time of unprecedented demand.
Smart Money People’s research also found that technology can help to underpin a more seamless journey. When it comes to mortgage technology, advisers want more integration, more uniformity, better customer service and improved training.
The importance of customer service
The research clearly articulated that customer service is key to an adviser’s decision in terms of which lender to choose to work with on a case. It also highlighted that improvements to application processing times by lenders have been instrumental in improving perceptions of lender service levels. Lenders that offer a faster and easier application process were more likely to see an increase in their overall rating by advisers.
Indeed, customer service is so significant that the price of the mortgage deal rarely ranks within the top two most important considerations for an adviser. With rates currently so competitive from a range of lenders, pricing is not the primary factor for brokers. There can be no doubting the importance of implementing a robust, smooth adviser journey.
The role of technology
We can expect technology to drive ever faster and more effective communication channels between lenders and intermediaries. This will be driven by industry integrations, in part underpinned by Open Banking technology – allowing for real-time case tracking and giving more time for BDMs to tackle complex cases.
And we are seeing game-changing improvements to the way our market uses technology. Iress’s ‘Lender Connect’ is a compelling example – helping mortgages move faster using API technology to connect brokers and advisers directly with lenders. Lender Connect ensures less rekeying, data relayed seamlessly to lenders across the UK, and a better, faster mortgage application process for everyone. By automatically populating up to 90% of a Decision-in-Principle and 60% of a full mortgage application, Lender Connect claims to be able to save approximately 20 minutes per application, and cut down on unnecessary work.
Twenty7tec’s SOURCE Plus, a new premium sourcing journey, is another example of the recent technological advancements in the market. SOURCE Plus enables advisers to search against a lender’s products, criteria, and approach to affordability within a single platform, before allowing an adviser to combine and assess all three areas of eligibility within a single research process. This offers a more efficient process across the 60,000+ daily searches conducted across Twenty7tec’s platform and removes the need to carry out multiple searches across standalone platforms or lender websites.
Engagement with technology
There remains a gap between technology availability and usage. This is a gap we need to close. We know, for instance, that CRM systems such as the product from Smartr365 can help with origination and case tracking, but some advisers are still wary of them and continue to operate their businesses using paper-based methods. As a sector, we need to make best use of available technology and encourage and nudge those who may be showing signs of reluctance to engage with it. We know there are a variety of “solutions” and systems out there – the challenge will be to ensure they are compatible so that firms can choose the provider/operator that best fits their business model, while remaining confident that their investment will be justified and the preferred system will be fully capable of communicating with others.
Stakeholders across the mortgage market need to focus on continuing their drive for automation and efficiency. The technology is available – we need to work together to integrate it. The past 12-18 months has helped us to embrace innovation – so let’s continue that journey to improve adviser-lender relationships. IMLA members look forward to seeing the results of the next Smart Money People benchmark report.
Kate Davies is executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (Imla)
