At many airports, supermarkets, public transit hubs and other commerce centers, consumers are increasingly being given the opportunity—and in some cases, being required—to use self-service technology to conduct transactions.
But while consumers have grown accustomed to performing tasks ranging from flight and hotel check-ins to paying for groceries and movie tickets with little-to-no human interaction, so far, the concept of a complete, do-it-yourself mortgage origination has yet to catch on as the industry norm.
The technology to enable self-service lending exists and the benefits of reduced costs and improved efficiency are very real. Indeed, many lenders have moved toward the self-service model by incorporating various automated processes into their operations. But buying a home, and obtaining financing for the purchase, represents the most significant transaction in most consumers’ lives and widespread borrower adoption remains a concern.
Still, as the next generation of mortgage borrowers comes of age, forward-thinking lenders are poised to shape the industry’s next evolution.
The concept of websites that enable self-service mortgage originations is not new. From the dawn of this century, lenders have looked to this technology as a way to remove thousands of dollars from the cost of originating a mortgage by eliminating hefty loan officer commissions.
Online-only lender E-Loan was an early adopter leading this charge by implementing many of the technologies crucial to self-service lending. Even then, from a technological perspective, the self-service website was no fantasy.
Along with E-Loan, self-service enthusiasts point to DeepGreen Bank, which enabled borrowers to conduct an application and gain approval for home equity loans online, with no other interaction.
The first time an employee even knew that a DeepGreen loan had been approved was when the request for funds came in. By the time DeepGreen was acquired and disappeared, the bank had racked up several billions of dollars in home equity loan originations.
