The mortgage industry is in on digital, but just how far varies widely from business to business,
The recent surge in tech development, particularly
In a four-part research series looking at a variety of topics based on survey responses collected by Arizent, parent company of National Mortgage News, we take a look at technology disruption today and what it could mean for the future of mortgage businesses.
The NMN Emerging Tech and AI survey was fielded online during June and July, 2025 among 123 mortgage professionals from bank, credit union and nonbank mortgage originators. All respondents are involved in mortgage loan processes and technology decisions at their organization.
Part 1: The tech audit and lender priorities
Taking a top-down look at the tech stack
A regular review of the tech stack is paramount, and lenders appear diligent in doing so, according to Arizent's findings. At the same time, they may not be taking the best approach and might be asking more discerning questions, a mortgage technology executive says.
Regular technology review is a necessary step for companies to determine where their needs are and whether tools in use are providing them expected return on investment.
Mortgage businesses appear to understand the necessity behind a regularly scheduled tech audit. At the time they were surveyed, almost two-thirds of companies, or 64%, reported an examination of their technology stack in the previous six months. Another 24% said they had conducted an audit in the past year.
Companies should schedule at least one full tech audit annually, but they shouldn't look at it as a one-and-done approach, said Katherine Campbell, a longtime mortgage industry executive and current fractional chief marketing officer at Shape Software.
"Every year, there should be a full analysis," she said. "But you can't wait until that once-a-year to understand where all the development paths are because they're constantly in development."
Every mortgage technology software should have an internal point person, whose leadership expertise aligns with the particular tool. That particular employee should be taking it on themselves to meet monthly with the vendor to stay on top of updates and discuss problems they've found during implementation.
Each point person, in turn, needs to regularly meet with their chief technology officers to determine where a tool excels or fails, so the company can lay out a clear explanation for the changes needed at the time of audit.
"There should be a full recommendation from a CTO — somebody that says, 'I continue to agree with what we have,' or 'these are the changes I would make.'
What lenders want their technology to address
Determining where each digital tool belongs in a company's tech stack and the processes it addresses belongs in
AI offers solutions for businesses to concerns that worry lenders the most, namely around compliance. At the same time, it is a prime use case for how new technologies can help companies the most.
The attention paid to compliance by mortgage professionals is apparent when they discuss their technology goals. Almost a quarter, or 73%, of survey respondents said regulatory guidance was top of mind when forming tech strategy.
Out of a wide list of potential purposes,
While worries of job loss are prevalent across financial services as artificial intelligence becomes "smarter" and develops abilities to fulfill challenging tasks, reducing headcount is not high on the list of technology strategy goals at most mortgage firms. Just 12% thought technology would help them fill staff shortages. At the same time, only 16% of companies said they looked at technology as a means to reduce the need for talent.
Looking for best value for the money
As it does for virtually every large business investment, the choice of what specific technology to adopt revolves first around return on investment, but lenders also state they are unwilling to compromise on safety.
A 96% share of respondents in the survey rated ROI as either a highly important or critical factor when deciding what software to purchase. Ranking almost as high on a percentage basis was data security of vendor tools, cited by 95% of companies.
When it came to narrowing down to the most critical needs, though, 82% of respondents cited data security compared to 68% for ROI.
A wave of high-profile cyber incidents that mortgage lenders and adjacent businesses in 2023 highlighted the necessity to have enhanced data security, and lenders are applying some of the lessons learned from that period. Vendor flaws opened the doors for fraudsters to commit some of the crimes, and since the cyber events, the need for robust security standards has only increased, as technology helps fraudsters
As vital as data security and ROI are, so is the ability to integrate any new technology, with 76% calling it a critical need and 17% highly important.
The solutions artificial intelligence provides are already paying dividends, Campbell claims. While regulation requires the need to tread carefully in introducing new tools, the speed and capabilities AI already possesses will expedite workflows and deliver answers at speeds previously unimaginable.
"The technology can see more opportunities than any trained person could possibly keep up with in a world where new products are being designed all the time," she said.
-This analysis is one of a multipart research series on mortgage technology disruption. Check back in the next few days for more analysis and research findings, including a look at lender sentiment toward artificial intelligence.
