The mortgage industry stands at a pivotal moment where technological innovation determines competitive advantage. With many retention strategies available, which ones can truly help lenders and servicers drive their business forward?
Matt Dowd, VP of Product Management at ICE Mortgage Technology joins the National Mortgage News Leaders channel for a discussion on how an integrated approach to mortgage technology is reshaping the way lenders engage with borrowers and drive business growth. Topics discussed include:
- Strategies for recapturing opportunities from record home equity and softening rates
- Ways technology can streamline back-office processes, reduce expenses and address lenders' top operational challenges
- How AI is being applied within ICE Mortgage Technology's ecosystem to deliver smarter automation
- Practical steps lenders can take now to prepare for the next market cycle
- How ICE is democratizing access to advanced technology with its neutral platform so lenders of all sizes can compete and grow
Transcription:
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record.
Michael Moeser (00:10):
Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm Michael Moser, senior content strategist at National Mortgage News, and I'll be your host for today's Leaders episode. The mortgage industry stands at a pivotal moment where technological advances determine competitive advantage, but with many strategies and solutions available, lenders need help determining which one will truly drive their business forward. Joining me today to talk about the future of mortgage lending and the role of neutral platforms and smarter tech is Matt Dowd, VP of Product Management at ICE Mortgage Technology. Welcome, Matt. We're excited to have you.
Matt Dowd (00:46):
Thanks, Michael. Really appreciate the opportunity to speak. It's nice to talk to you again, and really looking forward to this conversation. So thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Super.
Michael Moeser (00:54):
So Matt, you've recently transitioned from leading ICE's customer acquisition products to leading servicing products. How are you bringing the tenets of customer acquisition across ICE's end-to-end platform?
Matt Dowd (01:07):
Sure. There's a lot of tenants as we think about it, as we bring together this ecosystem between origination and servicing. But I'll speak specifically to one of the TESS as it relates to engagement with the consumer. And really our goal is to level the playing field and give clients of all sizes access to the same advanced tools as the largest players in the industry. And this approach, Michael, it's really consistent for us across both origination and servicing. And I'll take a minute and I'll explain that correlation, and let's start off with the foundation. So lenders and servicers operate under really the same premise regarding some of their core business objectives, right? They want to acquire customers, support a great borrower experience, convert those borrowers, and really retain those customers for life. And really the end goal of that is to generate both new and repeat business through referrals and multiple transactions.
(02:07):
And finally, they all want to do this as effectively and as efficiently as possible. And today, right? This is not new, they deploy a variety of strategies and technologies that they've effectively stitched together to support those objectives. And what we're doing is we're helping our clients achieve those same goals through a neutral, integrated end-to-end platform, which really drives homeowner acquisition and retention. And I want to emphasize neutral and integrated because those are really important to the conversation. By neutral, what I'm referring to is the fact that we're a technology provider. We don't compete with our clients. We enable them to compete and help drive their success. And we do this by providing a single solution, which is really designed to support the unique needs of each of our clients. And by integrated, I'm referring to the fact that we've done all the heavy lifting of tying the components together so that our clients, they can deliver more consistent borrower experience, drive conversion, and maintain those relationships while reducing that operational complexity.
Michael Moeser (03:13):
Matt, can you break that down into something a bit more tangible in order to accomplish these business goals that you just mentioned? What needs to happen first?
Matt Dowd (03:22):
Yeah, great question. I think that's really the crux of it, right? Said a lot of words there at a high level, but how does that really present itself into value? So let's break that down a bit. So when you think about customer engagement, there's many things that have to take place. One, you need an effective way to access your current data, and that data could come from your LOS, it could come from a servicing platform. And on top of that, you want to enrich that data through augmentation so that you have a more targeted audience. And to do this today, companies generally invest in BI tools and sourcing third party data. Now, once you've identified the audience, you need a way to attract 'em. And this generally comes in the form of marketing, which could be email, social, text, and the like. Really, it's an omnichannel approach, which most people employ, and it needs to be relevant and timely.
(04:17):
Most companies out there today are using A CRM to accomplish this. Next, obviously, you need a place for the borrower to act, right? Once you've attracted them. And here's where A POS comes into play so that consumers take action against that campaign that was said, and we're not done yet. There's still more things that they need. Now, the successful companies, they're going to be providing their loan officers tools so that they can follow up with the borrowers that took action. And I think most importantly, and maybe we'll talk about this later, they should be following up with those ones that didn't, right? There's a big opportunity there. After all those people were qualified, you target 'em as an audience and you thought they were a good fit for it. Most clients are generally loving some form of sales automation, which is primarily focused on engagement to accomplish this goal. And finally, once you've engaged that borrower and the application is submitted, you need an LOS to originate that loan. And then again, important here, that's where the CRM comes into play because once they're closed, you want to continue to nurture them and maintain that relationship for an extended period of time. That's
Michael Moeser (05:24):
A lot of applications there.
Matt Dowd (05:26):
That's a lot of applications, isn't it? And I mean at that, and there's a whole bunch of other things that can be plugged into that as well. That's just what I look at as the core, the foundation you need for customer engagement. And this isn't unique to mortgage. Any company out there that's heavily, heavily marketing is using this type of approach. It's marketing 1 0 1 at the end of the day. So by my count, that's five different applications a client has to manage. And that's expensive from a cost perspective, certainly expensive from an operational perspective. It's confusing to a loan officer who's being pushed and pulled by these different applications to say, Hey, you should work in my application. This is the best one. So that gets confusing. I mean, it's super time consuming, right? Somebody's got to maintain the integrations internally. You got contract management, release notes, product releases, and all these different companies you're using. They're not focused on each other's roadmap and making sure they're delivering a cohesive solution. They're doing what's best for their solution. So I said a lot there. I just lemme see if I could just wrap it up and summarize what we're doing. So our approach, Michael, is really through a single solution.
(06:41):
It's configurable and through our integrated value chain, we're really allowing clients to have access to an extremely sophisticated set of tools so they can effectively compete against those largest competitors that are in the industry. And our goal really is to allow the customers to focus more on building and maintaining relationships, closing sellable, high quality loans as quickly and efficiently as possible, and not supporting a bunch of tech vendors. So those tenants, those remain consistent across our entire ecosystem.
Michael Moeser (07:12):
Makes a lot of sense. I think that's a great segue for our next question. ISS mortgage monitor shows that there's an 11.6 trillion trillion with a T in tapable home equity also falling interest rates or creating a refinance incentive. So how should lenders be positioning themselves to capture this opportunity?
Matt Dowd (07:33):
Yeah, that's a big number, no doubt, right? And it may only get bigger. So let's take a look at some of the market landscape today, and from my perspective, why you can't be begin this engagement soon enough. First point obvious, there's a huge opportunity out there of pent up demand, and nobody's really sure when those people are going to act, right? There's 48 million homeowners that are sitting on tapable equity and falling rates are going to create both a purchase and refi opportunity. So you got to be prepared for that just as a data point. When rates dropped in September, the number of homeowners that were in the money for a refi jumped from two to 3.1 million. And we think if rates got to say six and an eighth, you probably have that number could jump to 5 million.
Michael Moeser (08:23):
So
Matt Dowd (08:23):
That's a big opportunity. So the reason I bring this up is lenders need to be engaging with those borrowers now. So when they're ready to take action, many of the hurdles that a borrower must go through to apply can already be overcome. So if you're providing those consumers value relevant information and setting the stage for a positive user experience, those are the lenders that are going to be more likely to win the business. So again, not to go on too long here, but based on what I just mentioned, it's more important than ever the lenders and servicers alike for that matter, are proactive in their engagement and are becoming part of the conversation. Now, let's be honest, Michael, we all know people are talking about what they want to do long before they take action. My wife and I were looking at a kitchen remodel and we started talking about it probably five months in advance. Well, it's
Michael Moeser (09:26):
Such a big cost, it's such a big endeavor. Put your house up in, it's not like going shopping for groceries. So it is a big thing. And for most people, it's the largest expense, the largest asset they have. So things take time.
Matt Dowd (09:43):
They do. And it's a big decision and it's a big decision. So the question you have is how do you insert yourself in that conversation early? And you do it through communication. And in order to have the effective communication, you want to have the data that supports that so that you become part of that conversation 2, 3, 4 months before even they're ready to take action. So look, again, we're all consumers. At the end of the day. We know what a good experience look like. We know companies that do a really good job for us and companies that don't do a good job for us. Mortgage is no different. You're going to generally act and take action with somebody. You have confidence in that you trust, you feel like they're on your side and they understand who you are and the goals that you're trying to accomplish.
Michael Moeser (10:32):
I get the customer experience. I know we've been talking about that quite a bit in this industry and other financial industries, but there's one topic that is very hot. We'd be remiss not to cover ai, and I think a lot of our viewers would want to know how are you using AI across ISIS form today?
Matt Dowd (10:53):
Yeah, I can break it down to one sentence, but I'll expand on it. And there is so much conversation right now around AI that I think it is definitely the topic of the day we use here at ICE Mortgage Technologies. We use AI strategically, and that's a very defined and point in sense, and what does that really mean? So when I say we take a strategic approach to ai, we look at deploying AI where it gives the greatest ROI without increasing risk. And I think it's important to focus on the business outcome that a client's looking for and then determine how a specific technology supports that rather than taking a technology and try and make it fit to solve a problem. So as an example, if the end goal of the client is to reduce, let's just say that's manual steps that the user has to, right? The true business objective is automation, right? Let's take technology aside. They want to automate their process to create an efficiency. Now, assuming that desired objective can be met, does it matter if it's AI workflow rules, if it achieves that objective? From our perspective, we're doing all three. That's what I mean when I say we're focused on the ROI and not saying, oh my gosh, it's ai, drop it in here. In some cases, people aren't seeing the RO. I
Michael Moeser (12:15):
Think that makes a lot of sense because I think with AI being the shiny object, as you mentioned, a lot of people are focused on that. And what you just said sounds technology agnostic, whether it's AI, automation, whatever it may be. But if the end, you're looking at the end goal and how to achieve that, that makes a lot of sense.
Matt Dowd (12:34):
It does. It does. And just one more note on it, you summarized it perfectly. I just want to be clear to everybody who's listening. That's not to say we aren't actively pursuing AI in the technology. In fact, AI and ML machine learning, they're already in play. For example, like our mortgage analyzers, we've been using AI to automatically read, borrow documents, extract the data from MW twos, pay stubs, pre-populate applications, and flag discrepancies. We've been doing that for a really long time, and we're leveraging ai, our Ask Reggie solution uses AI so that our users can actively engage to get answers to these complex regulatory questions in an efficient and effective manner. And on the servicing side, where you were using AI to improve our call center experience. So one of the things that makes us unique, as you look at AI and LLMs, we're leveraging that technology, but then we're taking the data that exists within the servicing or the loan origination platform that's really unique to that consumer and layering that on top of LLM an LLM, so that it's extremely relevant, powerful, and actionable. That's where I think that the real value comes from instead of just a generic LLM that may be scouring the internet, super helpful. But again, back to my point about targeting customers. When we can augment that type of data with very relevant and unique set, I think that's a lot of power that we have to offer. So AI is not a buzzword for us. Again, we've been doing it for a while and we're going to continue investing in it, but it's all about ROI and outcome.
Michael Moeser (14:11):
Got it.
Matt Dowd (14:12):
Yep.
Michael Moeser (14:13):
So what makes ISIS platform unique? How does it empower lenders and RS of all sizes to compete and grow?
Matt Dowd (14:20):
Yeah, good question. And you touched on it earlier, really what makes us unique. There's a lot of things, but if I had to sum it up, it's really that integrated, neutral platform that's accessible to all. And you and I touched earlier on experience, and let's talk about expectations a little bit. I'll ask you a question, Michael, what's the first thing that comes into your mind? Let's say when you go to a doctor's office and they ask you to fill out a form, it's your doctor, you show up, they hand you that clipboard. What do you think?
Michael Moeser (14:53):
I guess, do I have all the information they need, my insurance card, things like that?
Matt Dowd (14:58):
Yeah. And does it ever come up? You know me, I gave you this information, I come every year. How come I got to fill this out again? Yes. I think that's a proclivity, right? That consumers as a whole have expected. We can't turn a blind eye to what consumers experience on a daily basis out in the world that's going to influence what they expect when they come to do a mortgage. It's like, Nome, if you already have an existing relationship with me, why do I have to start over and fill this information? Right? It's easier to edit than to author. So we think that by having that data and pre-filling it as an example, just makes a ton of sense. So how does that tie together? Back to your question about unique, and it ties to before when I discussed five, six different types of platforms they're using.
(15:54):
Well, because we're a single platform, we can ensure that our clients are prepared to address that and by address it. I'm talking to that, that meeting them where they want to be based on that experience they have in other areas of their life. And this is so important because when you look at the visualization of engagement, and I talked about it earlier, they identified, attract, engaged, that people tend to think it in a linear process. And sometimes if you're visualizing, it may be circular, you say, go to the web search. You'll see all that diagram. But the truth is, it's neither. It's a dynamic workflow. People are jumping in and out of different stages at any given point in time, they don't take a happy path. They're always going in and out. So our single solution, it really supports that behavior, right? It adapts, it creates awareness and actionability based on how that borrower's behaving. At that point in time, I opened an email, maybe I didn't do anything. Okay, what do I do there? I opened an email, I started to apply what's my workflow, what's my engagement strategy there? And as that changes, our system's automatically going to adapt and notify the loan officer, whoever's engaging what the next appropriate action should be with the awareness. So I think that's at the end of the day, that's one of the most critical things that I think we can offer. And certainly as I talked about, we're accessible, we're neutral, we're integrated.
Michael Moeser (17:30):
So as we come to a close here, if you could leave lenders with one takeaway about driving growth in today's market, what would that be?
Matt Dowd (17:38):
Yeah. One message. It's a good question. I'd say use data and tech to drive growth along with people. People never should come out of the equation, but how do you leverage the data of the tech along with your people to drive growth? And I think if you do that, if you put thought into that, below are some of the outcomes. I think growth is going to come from maximizing the relationships that you already have, right? The lenders who win are going to be those that use data technology and people and have integrated everything so that they can identify those borrower needs early, engage with them seamlessly, and then convert that engagement into long-term loyalty. The other thing is don't ignore the top of the funnel. I touched on this earlier, like automate your follow-up processes on missed opportunities. There's abandoned applications. Our stats show that 15 to 30% of people start an application and abandon it.
(18:35):
Are you aware of that? What are you doing to follow up with that? What about those people that just opened in the email and didn't take action, or the ones you targeted, but they never did anything, don't give up on 'em, right? You might make this concept of right message, right time. Well, it might be the right message, but the right time might be two months from now. So don't just think, oh, if they didn't click, now, they're not interested. So focus on the top of that funnel. So in closing, in today's market, it shouldn't be about just chasing every new lead. It's about turning your portfolio into your strongest growth engine.
Michael Moeser (19:11):
Matt, could you expand on that or elaborate?
Matt Dowd (19:14):
Yeah. Okay, great. Yeah, I think as a single integrated solution, I want to be clear what I mean by that and what people are getting, right? You're getting a highly configurable mobile customer experience. You're getting all the loan officer tools you need to manage their leads, their pipelines and communications. You're getting a native CRM that's all part of this in integrated access to arguably one of the most robust data sets and BI tools in the industry, which can be used to better identify those opportunities. If on the servicing side, if you're servicing, you get a customer facing service app that currently supports over 17 million customers today. The ability to, as we move forward, I should say, we're incorporating AI and ML into our POS so that you can instantly recognize documents and extract the data for the POS for even additional abilities to pre-pop the data and beyond those. Remember, as part of this ecosystem, we're already tied into your disclosures, your flood ELOs, that's all integrated as well.
Michael Moeser (20:21):
Well, that's all we have for this session. I want to thank Matt for spending time with us and imparting his knowledge. So thank you, Matt.
Matt Dowd (20:28):
Thank you. I enjoyed it.
Michael Moeser (20:29):
And I want to thank our viewing audience for listening in. To learn more about ICE Mortgage Technology, please visit ice com.
