FINTECH CONSTANT TRANSFORMS MANUAL LOAN SERVICING WITH INTERACTIVE, DIGITAL CUSTOMER PORTALS
Constant announces its new platform at the AFSA Independents Conference as U.S. auto debt grows to record high and delinquencies are on the rise
Portland, ME – May 21, 2021 - Constant, a fintech provider of digitized loan servicing and loss mitigation solutions announced the release of its Modern Loan Servicing platform, which aims to transform the antiquated business of getting America’s $14.6 trillion household debt repaid. The platform gives borrowers visibility and self-service control over their debt and helps them through financial hardships, while automating the back-office complexities of loan management for servicers - without changing their existing systems.
Loan Servicing Affects Most Everyone
Economic uncertainty, the used car auto boom, and a red hot housing market drove up the total consumer debt to $14.6 trillion as 2020 came to a close. Eight out of ten Americans carry some kind of debt, which means that nearly everyone works with a loan servicer. Yet, loan servicing looks much like it did 15 years ago.
Loan servicers handle all the borrower communication, loan accounting, and hardship relief, and ensure compliance with relevant regulation. By and large, loan servicers rely on manual processes and older systems, and to respond to a crisis turn to outsourced call centers or hiring campaigns, which result in layoffs.
“The high cost of loan servicing and borrower harm are the result of manual, error-prone processes. We realized that if we could move high volume tasks - as well as tasks that require special handling like hardship relief or SCRA benefits - out of the back office onto borrowers’ devices, we could change borrowers’ relationship with debt, often their largest stressor, for the better, said Catherine Powers, CEO of Constant.
The Borrower-First Approach
“Having run large servicing and loss mitigation shops, I have firsthand experience with manual processes causing mistakes, delays and borrower harm,” said Carissa Robb, President of Constant. So much of this is avoidable by automating the most common back office functions of loan administration. By adopting our Modern Loan Servicing platform, a servicer can dramatically reduce the cost to service a loan - and compliance exposure - and provide more knowledgeable, empathetic, personalized service to borrowers. In a market where borrowers will jump ship for a fraction of a point, servicers can keep their brand in front of borrowers, make timely offers, and keep customers for life. It’s a win-win."
The combination of self-service tools and improved customer service leaves borrowers feeling in control of their loan repayment, enhancing finance companies’ brands and increasing customer loyalty, leading to an improvement in payment outcomes and customer satisfaction.
Hardship Relief Made Easy
With auto delinquencies on the rise, Constant’s built-in loss mitigation features help reduce a borrower’s reluctance to reach out and ask for help. Feelings of dread and fear - or even misplaced information on a servicer’s website - can delay a customer’s initial outreach or prevent it altogether. When there is a risk of a borrower falling behind on payments, self-service tools are the most valuable resources for both borrowers and servicers.
“When it comes to financial hardships, asking for help can be difficult. We care deeply about the communities we serve so making it easy for our members to connect and get the help they need was important to us,” said Kelsey Marquis, SVP & Chief Financial Officer for cPort Credit Union. “Constant allows us to deliver on our commitment to continuously drive innovation and provide leading-edge solutions to meet our members’ changing needs with the honesty, respect and fairness our members expect from us.”
By partnering with existing core and online banking providers (removing the need to overhaul existing infrastructure and replace systems), the Modern Loan Servicing platform demonstrates that customer portals can be so much more than just a place to make payments. Servicers can leverage automation to consider a customer’s needs and offer the right type of support - or new products - at the right time, provide hardship relief when it’s needed, and as economic inequality grows, increase transparency and provide financial education....-->
Constant announces its new platform at the AFSA Independents Conference as U.S. auto debt grows to record high and delinquencies are on the rise