Technology

London Bridge Software Holdings plc, London, has acquired CheckFree's Mortgage Products Division and intends to make it part of the firm's North American operation, LBSS Inc. Based in Atlanta, LBSS provides a range of mortgage software products from residential construction and origination to servicing and default management.LBSS hopes that the acquisition will provide an opportunity to cross-sell distressed debt products to large banking customers. The company called the acquisition "another clear sign of London Bridge's growing commitment to success in the U.S. software business."

FiTech Systems Lending Division, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Freddie Mac have teamed up in an effort to further streamline the loan origination process.The companies made the announcement at the MBA's 85th annual convention in Chicago. Under the initiative, FiTech's loan origination system will be interfaced to Freddie's Loan Prospector and the companies will share and develop several technologies, such as workflow automation. "The ultimate goal," according to Bob Ryan, Freddie Mac's vice president of marketing, "is to make the entire lending process easier and less obtrusive for the borrower." Freddie Mac's Internet address is http://www.freddiemac.com.

Fannie Mae has expanded its main website (http://www.fanniemae.com) and turned it into a business-to-business site that includes a new electronic news service and "push" technology that allows industry partners to receive Fannie Mae announcements automatically."The reincarnation of fanniemae.com as a business-to-business site is an important and logical next step in providing our lenders and other industry partners with leading-edge technology tools that help them transact business more efficiently," said John Buckley, Fannie Mae's senior vice president for communications. The site is organized into five sections: current investor information, business applications and forms, general information, a resource guide for the news media, and an employment opportunities database. Fanniemae.com is hyperlinked to HomePath.com (http://www.homepath.com), Fannie Mae's website for consumers seeking information on the mortgage process and Fannie Mae products.

Finet Holdings Corp., an electronic commerce company based in San Francisco, has restated its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, reporting a consolidated net loss from operations of $2.5 million, compared with a $5.3 million loss in the previous quarter.Revenues increased to $7.8 million, up 533% from $1.2 million a year earlier. After restating for the pooling-of-interests acquisition of Coastal Federal Mortgage Co. and the acquisition of Mical Mortgage Inc., consolidated quarterly revenues were up 108%, Finet said. Coastal contributed $1.8 million in revenues and Mical contributed $2.5 million, while the rest of Finet's operations contributed $3.5 million, up 189% from a year earlier, the company said. Consolidated loan volume totaled $401 million for the quarter, up 385% from a year earlier.

Commonwealth Mortgage Assurance Co., Philadelphia, has introduced an online service that enables lenders to obtain mortgage insurance in seconds, according to CMAC.MI Online, a feature of CMAC's customer information and access system ServiceLink, will be available nationwide this fall, the company said. "With ServiceLink, [lenders] can access their account 24 hours a day to perform servicing transfers, cancel mortgage insurance coverage, print certificates, and more," said Lora L. Wasson, CMAC's director of product marketing. "Now, using the new MI Online feature, our customers can obtain mortgage insurance on demand." CMAC is the operating subsidiary of CMAC Investment Corp. CMAC's website address is http://www.cmacmi.com.

Alltel Information Corp., Jacksonville, Fla., may be talking to Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Schaumburg, Ill., the nation's largest subservicer, about a possible purchase of the company, sources have told MortgageWire.Alltel operates the largest service bureau for residential servicers. A Dovenmuehle spokesman would not comment on the matter, and Alltel officials did not return telephone calls. At the end of June Dovenmuehle subserviced $26.41 billion in loans, according to the Database Products Group, a MortgageWire affiliate. (Dovenmuehle has owned servicing of just $338 million.) Last year EDS, a technology firm, bought Wendover Funding, Greensboro, N.C., another large subservicer.

American Management Systems, Fairfax, Va., has announced the successful implementation of Amerin VIA, a Web interface that provides integrated links to Amerin Guaranty Corp.'s existing back-office functions.Through the new online system, lenders can inquire about the status of insured loans, payments, and coverage details. The technology allows Amerin's staff to focus on more intricate questions, as opposed to routine requests. American Management's website address is http://www.amsinc.com.

Freddie Mac has made a $100,000 commitment to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Year 2000 testing plan, the MBA has announced.The MBA Year 2000 Inter-System Readiness Test Plan is a multimillion-dollar voluntary program under which firms will test their systems with those of trading partners in a Year 2000 business environment. "At Freddie Mac, we've made Year 2000 readiness our top corporate priority," said James Cotton, Freddie Mac's vice president of Year 2000 Primary Markets. "We believe that the MBA Inter-System Readiness Test is an important and necessary step toward ensuring readiness for us and the mortgage finance industry." The plan, developed by the MBA Year 2000 Inter-Industry Test Subgroup, has also received $100,000 commitments from Alltel, Fannie Mae, and First American Real Estate Services. It will include test transactions relating to 15 critical business functions in origination, secondary marketing, and servicing, the MBA said. The test is scheduled to begin early next year.

Wells Fargo and BankAmerica are now offering borrowers Internet access to home equity loans.So far Wells Fargo has approved 1,600 applicants, totaling $10 million. Eventually, the San Francisco-based banks are expected to expand the service to mortgages, credit cards, and other loans. Wells Fargo reports that 28% of its home equity loans made through the Internet were to non-bank customers, compared with 20% through the bank's branches. "Customers don't care if they have an existing relationship as long as the bank is willing to lend them money," says Karen Shapiro, senior vice president and online channel manager at BankAmerica. Wells Fargo's website address is http://wellsfargo.com/home, and BankAmerica's is http://www.bofa.com.

GE Capital Mortgage Insurance Company, Raleigh N.C., announces several Internet applications designed for its lender and servicer customers.GE Mortgage Insurance Connect (www.gemiconnect.com) provides its Excel lenders with the ability to receive new commitments in a paperless environment. GE Mortgage Insurance Connest's Certiprint feature allows lenders and servicers to print mortgage insurance certificates or commitments for new and existing loans. The company reports that is processes 1,000 transactions per day on Certilink, including servicing transfers, claims, loan status reporting, account maintenance and billing. Certilink is used by more than 200 servicers.