Mortgage lenders have
The Bethesda, Md.-based firm's Overture Marketplace is a consumer-facing website to search for student loans. It uses consumer-supplied information to match borrower needs with lenders. Overture will soon expand the website to include mortgages.
After the consumer's information is run through the matching engine, the user sees a list of lenders and can click on an individual lender to get more information. The leads that the system generates are highly-qualified, and the matching that takes place makes it more likely that a consumer lead will convert into a closed loan, said LeRoy Pingho, chairman and CEO of Overture.
"We are using their rules so there is no reason why they will not get a pull through," he said.
But rather than charging by the lead or the number of clicks on a lender's listing, Overture charges lenders to be included on the platform. It also offers a free and paid version of the site for consumers.
The paid model, said Pingho, gives the consumer the ability to filter down the information provided by the lender. The one-time consumer fee, currently $7.99, will include access to student loan and mortgage lender information, once both are available.
"The reason we chose to go down that path is that we are not incented by the banks or the lenders like every other site is. We don't take advertising, we don't sell leads," he said, adding that lenders cannot pay to improve their position in the search rankings.
The lead quality and pricing structure will make the offering attractive to lenders, Pingho said. And the cost is "absolutely certain, because you are paying a fixed fee. We believe that it is better for the consumer, it is better for the lender, if it's not per lead," he added.
"It is based on qualification, affordability and the actual rules of the lender in order to get as qualified and as a high a pull-through rate as he possibly can, leaving the power in the consumer's hands and leaving the power in the lender's hands," Pingho added.
