I’m a big advocate of using technology to reduce the amount of paperwork associated with a mortgage. In fact, I’m heading up a “
An improved customer experience isn’t the only reason to go paperless—lenders can realize great efficiencies and cost-savings too.
Today, the industry has made plenty of advancements in electronic delivery and electronic signatures that help speed up the manual work flow and automate generation of the document. Still I think the industry has a way to go before we truly have a paperless mortgage.
There’s still a good deal of manual data entry input—documents are collected manually to put them into the electronic format. Someone still has to stand in front of a scanner to get the item into the system. While there are opportunities to improve this, the nature of mortgages, as with any financial transaction, requires manual work.
Save big bucks and tons of trees
There are so many advantages to going paperless, both from the lender and the consumer sides. Digital informational documents can highlight important items, saving customers from having to search for the important parts for them to acknowledge. There’s no pile of paperwork to keep track of and store. Making copies and sending documents in the mail are a thing of the past.
From the borrower’s perspective, the process is clean, fast and tidy. Lenders able to offer a largely paperless transaction come across as sophisticated companies who make the mortgage process easier. In our toughly competitive market, that’s certainly an added advantage for any mortgage professional. And from the lender’s operational perspective, the paperless processes make sense, too. Instantaneous electronic signatures speed up the origination process as back-office support improves.
By not printing millions of pages, you’ll save tens of thousands of dollars a month on paper, printing and shipping. Those savings can be passed along to your borrowers, who may also take note of your reduced your carbon footprint.
Retain a talented workforce and improve compliance
With digital operations, the work can go wherever you have workers; no need for on-site functions and files. Processing, underwriting, closing and funding can occur in different places while workflow stays the same. By shipping the workload where you have capacity, you can retain a quality workforce. You can maintain a strong employee base in many locations without the worries of physical access.
With the keen capabilities of electronic processes, you can improve your ability to stay compliant through the tracking and safekeeping of files. For example, while forgeries are difficult to catch with the human eye, you’re able to scan paperless documents to find them. As a selling point, you can convey to customers that they can feel safe knowing it’s hard to forge their signature.
Paperless in less than four months
From planning to execution, putting a paperless process into action can take under four months. It’s a good idea to do your homework first by contacting other lenders and paperless experts so that you can design an efficient transition for your operations. Basically, the implementation involves four phases:
- Central coordinator gathers information from subject matter experts
- IT designs and tests the automation
- Process experts train loan officers and support staff
- Execution and follow-up
When you make the big switch from tried-and-true manual processes to the streamlined world of paperless operations, you may encounter some initial resistance from employees who’ll be affected. You need to provide steady information in order to dispel concerns and alleviate reluctance. Provide plenty of details and education. Training can move smoothly if you put in place the following:
- Classrooms and online modules
- A website of how-to FAQs
- A central location for training
In addition to your loan intake and processes, other parts of the mortgage operations can benefit from the controls and efficiencies of paperless automation as well. They include:
- Third-party vendors and credit reporting
- State licensing
- Lead management and routing
Overall, through the effective automation of the mortgage process, you can improve customer satisfaction, simplify workflow and reduce costs.
Simply put, going no paper is a no-brainer.
