BoA Exec Touts Tech Cost-Sharing

While technology is a vital concern to mortgage lenders, it may make more sense to partner with others to get it, even if they are competitors, according to Kevin Shannon, president of consumer real estate for Bank of America.Mr. Shannon made his comments at Thomson Media's 7th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami. "Technology is not a differentiator," Mr. Shannon said. Branding and distribution are the keys to long-term success, he said. BoA says a key objective is to share technology costs with other firms to leverage that expense over a larger base of business. He admitted that "finding common ground when you're competing head to head is challenging." Last year, BoA bought Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Framework, developer of the LendWare loan origination and processing system, one of the technologies BoA hopes to leverage in the future.