When it comes to traditional technologies in default servicing, the word "transparent" always ends up being paired with some unpleasant descriptives: "Difficult to understand," "Hard to find information" or "More excessive than what I am looking for" are the few words that usually follow the word transparent.
At the core of these phrases is the lack of understanding regarding what users mean when they demand transparency. Transparency does not means simply lifting the curtain and letting everything be visible, nor does it mean to gather all the available information pieces and throw them together. Simply stated, transparency means having access to the needed information when it is needed and having a strong foundation of exposure based strictly on a "need-to-know" basis.
Each bit of information is a unique piece of the default servicing puzzle and to solve the puzzle, each piece must be properly put in its respective place.
Automation also inevitably ends up being paired with transparency, and it tends to act as a tool used to collect each and every bit of information without weighing its importance. The problem with automation is that too much emphasis has been placed on collecting every bit of information and treating all information equal all the time.
In reality, very little thought is actually given as to how to present the information in a meaningful way so that the individual looking at it can understand it. Obviously, automation enables a lot of valuable information about the loan to be shared but all that information may be of very little importance at the moment when someone is seeking a particular piece of information that is difficult to locate. Now, becomes like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack.
An example that comes to mind is a lending product that is available in today's market that professes to be the "system of records" when it comes to providing loan level data. Each activity related to the loan is recorded in the "notes" section of the system; whether it is a system generated alert, user entered critical observation, or any other related activity, it is recorded.
However, there is a caveat: when an employee needs a certain granular detail, he or she is given a plethora of screens to read and from there they must determine exactly what piece of information is needed. Additionally, this product claims to provide extensive "search" features. However, it is just a fancy search for specific text in the notes. So, ultimately it now becomes the end users challenge to find the specific information they need.
Here is an example of automated transparency without any thought of how the information is being entered into the system. The information for a "new address" is different than that of "change of address."
While transparency is present and it has tracked every change in the address, because some users call it "new address," that entry got lost because another user searched for "change of address." In this scenario, what good is the ability to see all the information?
True transparent technology provides its users with complete access on a strictly "need-to-know" basis (in accordance with the proper security and permission levels). This means access to the information and how to access the information.
Users must be able to easily navigate through the maze of information so that they can locate exactly what detail they need when they need it. This is when the marriage of transparency and technology really works.
Looking at the example stated above regarding the address change, if the technology was truly transparent it would have the most recent address visible to the end user with a prominent indicator to inform the user about history changes in the address. Additionally, scrolling over the text using the mouse should display the history changes in the address field in reverse order, starting with the most recent change at the top.
In addition to the address change, supporting information should also be visible, such as when the change was made, who changed it, at what time, etc.
The key to success in transparent technology lies in a clean presentation and easy navigation. Navigation is like a map in the hands of end users while traveling through the uncharted roads. Because every loan has its own life and information, navigating through each loan is key to maintain its integrity.
Truly transparent automation must ensure that all the information is properly indexed and tagged, classified and easy to slice and dice. Without such tagging/indexing-automation is actually a burden to transparency, as it actually makes user's job more difficult.
Sanjeev Dahiwadkar is the CEO at IndiSoft LLC.
