InstaMortgage’s adoption of Finicity’s Mortgage Verification Services cloud-based technology took about six months, from shopping around for the best provider, to negotiations, inking a deal and then completing the integration itself.
InstaMortgage founder and CEO Shashank Shekhar (pictured) said his company has done many other integrations, but this one may have been the most critical for his company.
Read the full article here.
Freddie Mac announced today the company will launch a new, automated capability that allows mortgage lenders to assess a prospective homebuyer’s income paid through direct deposit. This solution is available to mortgage lenders through Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor® (LPASM) asset and income modeler (AIM). Finicity is one of the service providers for this product, helping to create a more streamlined solution for lenders and borrowers alike.
In this podcast episode, HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins is joined by Nick Thomas, the co-founder and president of Finicity and executive vice president at the Office of Engagement at Mastercard.
The pair discuss how the digital mortgage process and fintech innovation can help consumers manage and navigate the home-buying process. Thomas also gives an inside look at Finictiy’s acquisition journey with Mastercard and some words of advice for fellow entrepreneurs.
Listen to the full episode here.
InstaMortgage, a tech-driven mortgage lender licensed in 26 states, today announced that it has adopted technology provided by Finicity, a Mastercard company, to help consumers make smarter financial decisions through its safe and secure access to fast, high-quality, consumer-permissioned data verification during the mortgage lending process.
Finicity’s Mortgage Verification Services offer a digital-first, low-friction mortgage lending experience that can cut days off the mortgage process and cut costs to both lenders and borrowers. To learn more about streamlining your lending workflow, click here.
Read the full announcement here.
Buying a home in today’s market is challenging from start to finish for many consumers. Reduced supply, increased demand and competitive bidding wars riddle the path to homeownership. The struggle doesn’t end there, according to recent homebuyers who responded to Finicity’s 2021 Mortgage Survey, which is available now.
Many are still struggling with the decades-old headache of collecting mountains of paper documentation for underwriting. This antiquated holdover from a bygone era continues to add unnecessary stress and anxiety to processing, underwriting and closing a mortgage.
To get a better understanding of what borrowers are going through in this white-hot market, Finicity surveyed over 1,000 consumers who have purchased or refinanced a home in the last year and compiled the insights into High Demand, Higher Hurdles in the Mortgage Market, which details these pain points and provides a window into how the mortgage lending industry can evolve to meet the shifting needs of today’s homebuyers and refinancers.
Big Opportunities for Change in the Mortgage Process
Many consumers approach their home purchase with excitement and, understandably, a bit of trepidation. But while today’s homebuyer grits their way through a challenging shopping and bidding environment, any excitement can quickly turn to angst when they are met with a cumbersome and laborious mortgage loan process.
Refining the mortgage process means identifying and removing pain points for homebuyers. Our survey uncovered that 89% of borrowers believe the loan application experience was as stressful if not more than the home buying experience itself. Eliminating friction during the mortgage process is a critical step in building loyalty and meeting the expectations of today’s homebuyer.
Many homebuyers were surprised to learn that physical documents still make up a large portion of mortgage documentation. Seventy-two percent of respondents were surprised or very surprised at the volume of paper that’s still used during the mortgage process.
Going Digital Means Reduced Stress
The majority of today’s homebuyers are accustomed to navigating life digitally, and the mortgage experience should align with this.
Only 12% of respondents indicated that they were uncomfortable permissioning their personal financial data to a lender. Meeting consumers where they feel most comfortable helps save them time and reduces unnecessary stress.
Borrowers who used digital mortgage verifications were less likely to say the loan process was the most stressful part of buying or refinancing a home, and 83% of respondents using digital verifications said their loan processing time was shorter than expected or met their expectations.
Embracing Change
For many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst to transition to digital solutions. While the mortgage industry has started down this path as well, there is still work to be done. Reducing friction through digitization of manual loan documentation and minimizing the document-chasing between lender and borrower is a key component of this transformation.
Consumer-permissioned data delivered through our open banking platform allows for digital verifications throughout the mortgage process, significantly reducing the time it takes to close. In today’s mortgage landscape, this can mean the difference between consumers stepping into their dream home after a quick, seamless loan process, or losing out to a buyer who is using digital lending for a quick close.
The complete findings are now available in Finicity’s most recent mortgage survey, High Demand, Higher Hurdles in the Mortgage Market.
Finicity, a Mastercard company and leader in open banking solutions, today released its new report High Demand, Higher Hurdles in the Mortgage Market. The report reveals key findings around the issues consumers face during the mortgage process and how digital solutions are starting to provide relief. According to the report, 89% of respondents find the loan application was more stressful or as stressful as the home-buying experience.
Consumer-permissioned open banking solutions allow for digital verifications throughout the mortgage process, shaving days off the entire experience.
Read more here.
While digital experiences are rapidly becoming the norm for mortgage lending, the verification process has largely remained a manual, paper-driven process. Fortunately, this is changing.
Finicity, a Mastercard company, is the only authorized report supplier that offers a digital, single-vendor solution for assets, income, and employment authorized for representation and warranty relief through both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. By automating the asset and income verification process, providing transaction data for rent payment history and providing a 10-day pre-closing report, we can help you streamline the approval process and in turn even be a more inclusive lender.
Approved by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
Finicity is an authorized supplier for Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor® AIM, which automates borrower assets, income, and employment assessment for lenders. By leveraging the expertise of third-party service providers, AIM helps to deliver a simpler, more efficient loan origination process.
Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) validation service also accepts our mortgage verification services to independently validate borrower assets, income, and employment data—providing Day 1 Certainty® on validated loan components. By digitally validating secure third-party data through DU, you can help eliminate the paper chase and help get your borrowers approved quicker.
Rent payment history in credit decisioning
On September 18, Fannie Mae introduced the inclusion of rent payments in their automated mortgage credit decisioning process in DU. Fannie Mae identifies recurring rent payments in bank statements and transaction data as a factor which could deliver a more inclusive credit assessment.
For first-time homebuyers who may have a limited credit history but a strong rent payment history, the enhancement creates new opportunities for homeownership while still promoting safe lending. Fannie Mae said 17% of applicants who have not owned a home in the last three years and who did not receive a favorable mortgage recommendation could have instead received an “approved” or “eligible” recommendation if their rental payment history had been considered.
To take advantage of the rent payment history feature, Finicity provides a Verification of Asset and Income (VOAI) report through its Mortgage Verification Service (MVS) that includes up to 24 months of transaction data that Fannie Mae can use to identify rent payment history and provide a more favorable credit assessment.
The VOAI report can be called with a direct API or is available currently in ICE Encompass and Encompass Consumer Connect, as well as the SimpleNexus mortgage point-of-sale (POS) platform.
In addition to VOAI, we’re pleased to announce that we now offer Verification of Asset (VOA) as a standalone product. Lenders can utilize Finicity’s VOA report to provide 12 months of data and participate in Fannie Mae’s rent history assessment. Lenders have the freedom to access two and 12 months of data to satisfy their own underwriting requirements, while VOA automatically sends 12 months to Fannie Mae, keeping the file GSE-compliant.
The VOA report is available via direct API connection or on most ecosystem platforms.
10-day pre-closing verification
Additionally, Finicity’s 10-day pre-closing reports provide just the right data GSEs need for 10-day verification of employment.
In adding a 10-day pre-closing report to our mortgage verification services, we have enabled lenders to receive only the data GSEs require for the 10-day verification. You can use these 10-day pre-closing reports to view just your borrower’s employment status rather than refreshing our current full reports that contain financial data. This minimizes the introduction of new income data or other redundant and unnecessary underwriting changes.
One of the reports available is the VOE Transactions report, which contains 120 days of refreshed transactions with dates and description but no amounts or totals so that income is not re-assessed. It shows the latest direct deposits in the income streams so that it can be determined that the borrower is still being paid on their regular cadence.
Another option is the VOE Payroll report. This contains only employment status—no income or other data—so lenders can see that the individual is still employed according to their payroll provider.
Our 10-day pre-closing reports are part of MVS at no extra charge and are currently only available for lenders connecting directly to Finicity.
These new reports could help you improve accuracy and simplify the process of verifying employment within ten days of closing, which is simplifying the loan origination process even further without increasing risk. Because these products are part of Finicity MVS, you would no longer have to call your borrower’s employers to get the information or manually ask for any extra interaction from the borrower.
How can you access these 10-day pre-closing reports?
To pull the VOE reports today, your team will need to code directly to the endpoints. You can find documentation here. As we integrate them further into LOS and POS platforms, they will be even easier for consumer loan officers to access. To see Finicity’s Mortgage Verification Services in action, request a demo here.
While digital experiences are rapidly becoming the norm for mortgage lending, the verification process has largely remained a manual, paper-driven process. Fortunately, this is changing.
Finicity, a Mastercard company, is the only authorized report supplier that offers a digital, single-vendor solution for assets, income, and employment authorized for representation and warranty relief through both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. By automating the asset and income verification process, providing transaction data for rent payment history and providing a 10-day pre-closing report, we can help you streamline the approval process and in turn even be a more inclusive lender.
Approved by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
Finicity is an authorized supplier for Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor® AIM, which automates borrower assets, income, and employment assessment for lenders. By leveraging the expertise of third-party service providers, AIM helps to deliver a simpler, more efficient loan origination process.
Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) validation service also accepts our mortgage verification services to independently validate borrower assets, income, and employment data—providing Day 1 Certainty® on validated loan components. By digitally validating secure third-party data through DU, you can help eliminate the paper chase and help get your borrowers approved quicker.
Rent payment history in credit decisioning
On September 18, Fannie Mae introduced the inclusion of rent payments in their automated mortgage credit decisioning process in DU. Fannie Mae identifies recurring rent payments in bank statements and transaction data as a factor which could deliver a more inclusive credit assessment.
For first-time homebuyers who may have a limited credit history but a strong rent payment history, the enhancement creates new opportunities for homeownership while still promoting safe lending. Fannie Mae said 17% of applicants who have not owned a home in the last three years and who did not receive a favorable mortgage recommendation could have instead received an “approved” or “eligible” recommendation if their rental payment history had been considered.
To take advantage of the rent payment history feature, Finicity provides a Verification of Asset and Income (VOAI) report through its Mortgage Verification Service (MVS) that includes up to 24 months of transaction data that Fannie Mae can use to identify rent payment history and provide a more favorable credit assessment.
The VOAI report can be called with a direct API or is available currently in ICE Encompass and Encompass Consumer Connect, as well as the SimpleNexus mortgage point-of-sale (POS) platform.
10-day pre-closing verification
Additionally, Finicity’s 10-day pre-closing reports provide just the right data GSEs need for 10-day verification of employment.
In adding a 10-day pre-closing report to our mortgage verification services, we have enabled lenders to receive only the data GSEs require for the 10-day verification. You can use these 10-day pre-closing reports to view just your borrower’s employment status rather than refreshing our current full reports that contain financial data. This minimizes the introduction of new income data or other redundant and unnecessary underwriting changes.
One of the reports available is the VOE Transactions report, which contains 120 days of refreshed transactions with dates and description but no amounts or totals so that income is not re-assessed. It shows the latest direct deposits in the income streams so that it can be determined that the borrower is still being paid on their regular cadence.
Another option is the VOE Payroll report. This contains only employment status—no income or other data—so lenders can see that the individual is still employed according to their payroll provider.
Our 10-day pre-closing reports are part of MVS at no extra charge and are currently only available for lenders connecting directly to Finicity.
These new reports could help you improve accuracy and simplify the process of verifying employment within ten days of closing, which is simplifying the loan origination process even further without increasing risk. Because these products are part of Finicity MVS, you would no longer have to call your borrower’s employers to get the information or manually ask for any extra interaction from the borrower.
How can you access these 10-day pre-closing reports?
To pull the VOE reports today, your team will need to code directly to the endpoints. You can find documentation here. As we integrate them further into LOS and POS platforms, they will be even easier for consumer loan officers to access. To see Finicity’s Mortgage Verification Services in action, request a demo here.
Nick Baguley, VP of Data Science at Finicity, writes in the Fintech Times about how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has the ability to make lending and verification processes easier and more efficient. Most importantly he talks about what’s already happening today and where it’s headed.
Read the entire article here.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – August 26, 2021 – Finicity, a Mastercard company and leading provider of open banking solutions, announced today that it is expanding its one-stop Mortgage Verification Service (MVS) availability within ICE Mortgage Technology™, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure. This integration enables borrowers to permission data quickly and easily so lenders can verify assets, income, and employment in a streamlined interaction. The result: both parties are met with a significantly reduced turnaround time and improved borrower experience.
The verification can be accepted by both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and makes the loan eligible for representation and warranty relief in place of a cumbersome and difficult manual loan documentation process. With more lenders and borrowers adopting digital mortgage experiences, moving from a largely manual process to a more digital one creates an enhanced overall experience.
“With MVS integrated into Encompass® and Encompass Consumer Connect®, our goals are to reduce risk for lenders, create an overall improved consumer experience, and ultimately simplify the mortgage process for everyone by helping borrowers prove their creditworthiness in a more robust, yet streamlined way,” said Finicity CEO and Co-founder Steve Smith.
For more information about ICE Mortgage Technology Encompass platform and Encompass Consumer Connect visit: https://www.icemortgagetechnology.com/encompass.
ICE Mortgage Technology combines our innovation and expertise to automate the entire mortgage process from consumer engagement through loan registration, and it handles every step in between. ICE Mortgage Technology is the leading cloud-based loan origination platform provider for the mortgage industry with solutions that enable lenders to originate more loans, lower origination costs, and reduce the time to close, all while ensuring the highest levels of compliance, quality, and efficiency. Visit icemortgagetechnology.com or call (877) 355-4362 to learn more.
About Finicity
Finicity, a Mastercard company, helps individuals, families, and organizations make smarter financial decisions through safe and secure access to fast, high-quality data. The company provides a proven and trusted open banking platform that puts consumers in control of their financial data, transforming the way we experience money for everything from budgeting and payments to investing and lending. Finicity partners with influential financial institutions and disruptive fintech providers alike to give consumers a leg up in a complicated financial world, helping to improve financial literacy, expanding financial inclusion, and ultimately leading to better financial outcomes. Finicity is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more or test drive its API, visit www.finicity.com.
About Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds, and operates digital networks to connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes that offer our customers access to mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and operational efficiencies. We operate exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, and clearing houses that help people invest, raise capital, and manage risk across multiple asset classes. Our comprehensive fixed income data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics, and platforms that help our customers capitalize on opportunities and operate more efficiently. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming and digitizing the U.S. residential mortgage process from consumer engagement through loan registration. Together, we transform, streamline, and automate industries to connect our customers to opportunity.
Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading “Key Information Documents (KIDS).”
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 — Statements in this press release regarding ICE’s business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021.