"In many cases, lender sales portals are still not meeting intermediary needs in terms of up to date case information, joined up functionality and intuitive design. "
69% of lenders are optimising portals for use on mobile devices, yet a third of intermediaries are still calling for portals to be easier to use and 45% judge portals to be below average in terms of usability.
In addition, while 89% of lenders provide scan and attach at point of sale, four in ten (42%) do not allow proof documents to be uploaded as an image via a smartphone or tablet.
90% of lenders offer case tracking, with 80% providing the tracking in real-time, but over half (56%) of intermediaries say they are still having to make between four and ten calls per application.
Intermediaries attributed half of those calls (48%) to case updates because the information provided by lenders online, by email and SMS is not fully real-time or has insufficient detail.
The survey also showed some contrast in opinion on automated or ‘robo-advice’.
Nearly three fifths of lenders (58%) believe digital tools can automate parts of the application process to increase efficiency and improve the customer experience, leaving more time for intermediaries to concentrate on providing advice and appropriate recommendations.
Yet a third of intermediaries have concerns over ‘robo-advice’ technology, believing that human intervention remains crucial in all but the simplest of cases.
Looking ahead to future developments, six out of ten lenders surveyed see open banking as beneficial to the mortgage process and 44% think APIs, which allow different online systems to link together, will open up opportunities in the mortgage market.
For the first time, a number of intermediaries commented that lenders should provide APIs to connect their fact find and desktop systems directly to lenders to avoid duplication of effort and rekeying.
Henry Woodcock, principal mortgage consultant at IRESS, commented: “The survey findings show that lenders continue to put considerable resource into improving the mortgage journey for customers and their advisers. However, intermediary experience suggests that, in many cases, lender sales portals are still not meeting intermediary needs in terms of up to date case information, joined up functionality and intuitive design. For instance, the ability to photograph, attach and send documentation all via a smartphone without the need for further contact with the lender would make the application easier and quicker, but is currently available from less than half of the providers surveyed.
“It is therefore heartening to hear that lenders are looking ahead at how API technology might improve the market. In future, lenders could take data from an open banking account aggregator to automate income and expenditure verification, or link to an intermediary’s own CRM system to remove the need to rekey information, reducing the time and effort required to apply for a mortgage.”
Kate Davies, executive director of IMLA, added: “The survey results show some lenders are much further down the road in terms of what they can offer intermediaries, and although both lenders and intermediaries can see potential in new technologies, both acknowledge that customers may be reluctant to embrace some of the changes. The conclusion which I draw is that there is no single market, type of consumer, lender, or intermediary – but rather a large canvas of differing expectations, capabilities and opportunities.
"The challenge for all of us in the sector is to keep talking, exchanging ideas, requests and proposals, to keep developing and delivering the mortgage finance that our customers need. The IRESS survey makes an important and valued contribution to that process.”
