February 4th, 2019

More and more often, generations take the easiest route that’s available to them.  Let’s face it; people are more likely to wait in the Dunkin Donuts drive-through line, rather than walk inside for a coffee.  This same concept applies to mortgages. While individuals appreciate a digital 1003 application over written, it’s important to realize that they want to eliminate as many steps as possible. That said, lenders must ensure that they implement a digital platform that has asset verification integrated with it. Asset verification verifies all of a homebuyer’s financial documents digitally.  The last thing that borrowers want to do is worry about sending bank statements to their loan officer. Especially, when they know they can avoid this.  Nowadays, mortgage companies are going “paperless” to abandon the prehistoric loan process. Therefore, it’s best understand the advantages of asset verification to understand where the mortgage industry is going.

Electronic Verifications

Electronic verifications are what borrowers are looking for in their mortgage applications.  This refers to discovering a consumer’s assets, employment history, and income information. They can avoid the hassle of sending over bank statements, pay stubs, and other paper documents that have been quickly fading away.  At this point, lenders have the ability to retrieve a potential homebuyer’s bank statement in seconds, and their W2’s will transfer instantaneously. In turn, this enhances the company’s productivity and efficiency by cutting time and cost.

Automated Review of Data

Additionally, there are a number of platforms that offer an automated review of data.  This means that the system goes back and identifies any gaps that may have occurred through the loan processing system, allowing the lender to go back and make any necessary adjustments.  Typically a mortgage company’s staff completes this type of review, however it is time consuming and can be overlooked. The human eye can only detect so much, and there is always room for mistakes.  With an automated review of data, the system can scan over and review the loan to make sure that the entire process is moving seamlessly.

Collaboration Platform

The integration of a collaboration platform into many asset verification platforms comes in handy quite a bit.  This platform allows the lender and borrower to communicate back and forth regarding items that may require more attention.  In fact, as long as the borrower gives their lenders permission, the lender can monitor the homebuyer’s bank account and inform them early on if potential negative changes arise.  With that, the borrower will be receiving exceptional customer service, enhancing the overall homebuying experience. In fact, with the borrower’s permission they have the capacity to transfer access and share it with other entities involved with the loan. Even auditable documentation reflects the data that was retrieved by the third party asset verification system.

Automated Income Calculations

Remember when dinosaurs were walking around on planet Earth? Neither do we.  This is why it’s time to abandon the old fashioned, ineffective methods that the mortgage industry still uphold.  Automated income calculations ensure that there are no mistakes when determining what a borrower’s income looks like.  Once the homebuyer’s data is automatically populated into a robust worksheet, it is calculated for the lender. In turn, this reduces errors and turn times.  As long as it is inputted correctly, there is no reason for a mistake, and the numbers will never be wrong. The lender wastes entirely too much time on tedious tasks like this. In fact, many say this is one of the most time consuming parts of underwriting.

Transparency

When it comes to private and personal information, it’s natural to be cautious when giving this information out.  It’s sometimes difficult for potential homebuyers to trust a complete stranger to handle their loan, which is understandable.  This is why asset verification platforms provide consumers with complete transparency. Potential homebuyers have full control over the data that they share, and can see complete insights over this information.  They can grant and remove access to their financials, and the lender only can view this information. Everything is in the hands of borrowers. Which gives them peace of mind as they can track the progress of their loan.  Specifically, borrowers have the ability to see each time data is retrieved, what data is retrieved, what entity accessed it, and which items need further review.

Protection

The amount of security that protects asset verification platforms in digital 1003 applications is much more trustworthy than your social security number sitting around on a piece of paper in the office.  In fact, there are multiple layers of security that is there to protect both the borrower and the lender. Every year we hear stories regarding lost W2’s in the mail, and the need to replace them afterwards. However, who now has that information? This same scenario can happen when it comes to sending out a W2 form when applying for a loan.  Personally, I’d rather trust my personal information going through a series of constantly updated security systems, than sending it via mail.

In conclusion, lenders can achieve much more with electronic data over paper documents. As time goes on, the world around us is enhancing in the digital space.  For example, factors such as automatic income calculations, analyses, and reviews are only possible with electronic data. Paper documents are susceptible to manipulation, creating more of a risk and possibility of fraud. Therefore, when the opportunity arises, mortgage companies need to choose a digital 1003 that includes third party asset verification platforms.

As a lender, you should know about all of the benefits of a digital mortgage platform and how they benefit the industry — To learn more schedule an information session with our team at WebMax.